How do you fight the Gods? You ask the Belgriclungreians dwarfs for swords, of course, how else!

This part of the series really gave me the feeling, even more so than Age of Myth, that you should read the entire series, and judge that as a whole, rather than rate the individual books.

Despite that, there are many things here that I truly liked and that essential for the greater overall series:

• The introduction of the Belgriclungreians and their culture
• The origin of Suri’s hate for Gronbach
• Moya learning to work the bow and arrow
• Introduction of the creatures known as “Raow”
• The history of the Agave
• Suri sacrificing Minna and learning the secret of the Gilarabrywn
• Mawyndulë's part in the Miralyith rebellion
• Suri taking down Nieth because Gronbach was being an ass
• Moya taking out the leader of the Gula-Rhunes before he even got 2 steps in
• Persephone being chosen as Keenig of all the Rhunes
• The history of Persephone and Raithe

Age of Swords feels like a stepping stone, it’s a logical segmentation of the story, but it’s just a minor step in the direction of the bigger things that are yet to come. It’s an impression that I can’t shake while reading, the feeling that you just want to rush through the story, so you can get to the good better parts in the next book. Make no mistake, Age of Swords is a great story in itself, having a proper start - middle - end, with unexpected plot twists, a proper story arc and a satisfying ending. It just feels like it’s only leading up to greatness, instead of just being great.