A review of the Echoes Saga by Philip C. Quaintrell

The echoes of fate by Philip C Quaintrell is a 9 book series of fantasy goodness. Warning, there are tropes.
This is a ranger fantasy series but Asher the ranger is not the hero alone. It is hard to say who is. Each character has his or her own journey. I was hooked from the first page of book 1 and amazon should thank Mr. Quaintrell for adding one more subscriber to kindle unlimited. (Not that it matters but that is not the point of this review)
Books 1 through 3 are easy to follow and you have a central story line running there. Asher is at the center of events.
Things get complicated in book 4. There are places in books 4 and 5 where my credibility was stretched to its limits. After that, I went along for the ride and what a ride it has been. Book 8 left the realm in chaos and even in book 9, our heroes have much to do. How they stayed on their feet when fighting for 2 or more days is beyond me. All were not magic users. There are plenty of monsters and the character development is good. This includes the dragons. Each dragon has its own personality.
I like the pacing though some of the characters talk too much which slows down the story. I am not going to give a plot summary because the amazon descriptions are adequate.
I will say that they do not do the scope of the books justice.
The system of magic in the world is interesting and I like the way the mages have to think about what they do.
Magic has a price as is illustrated by the dragon bond. This is one of the most intriguing concepts in the book.
I am also wondering about why dragons have fire. What would be the evolutionary advantage of being able to throw fire out of your mouth? What kind of pray would need that sort of intervention? How does their physiology handle it?
The emphasis on second chances is beautiful and there is a powerful message of redemption. Unlike many books, the book does not end with the primary conflict being resolved. We stay with the characters and see them living. You could say that narrows the scope of our imagination but there are a few twists towards the end therefore do read until the very last.
The review will not be complete without my thanking A.C. Cobble, my favorite fantasy author and the man who introduced me to the ranger genre. Do read the echos of fate as well as the The King’s Ranger for a fantasy fix.
Finally, both series are captivating therefore you may want to start reading on a weekend.