MOVIE CINEMA ACTION!



My third time around with the fifth book in the Metaframe War series (The Crane War) made me want to go grab some swords and guns as I wanted to jump in the fray alongside the characters to kick some vampire ass as the war has escalated to a whole new level of action!

There is continuous action basically non-stop throughout most of the book and lots of different things happening within the story that slowly starts bringing things together.

The war has arrived from the King of the Vampire Dominion, Cornelius Crane as he has gathered an army of vampires along with his General, Chloe Armitage to go up against the forces of the Mirovar Force Team.

Tons of strategic planning on both sides and weapons being locked and loaded/swords and katanas sharpened for an epic battle that we have not seen since the books began.

The Mirovar Force Team members (Francis, Anton, Jay, Peter, Li, and Chiara) along with Arthur (Anton's grandfather) really mesh together in this book as though emotions are running high among them they all have made it this far together as a team. Team spirit is up and they are ready to fight for their survival against the vampires.

The Blake Force team members (Justin, Samuel, Taylor, Patrick, Tim, Max, and Red) make a full appearance in this book as they are there to assist in the fight with the vampires.

Vampire Dominion members - main characters (Cornelius Crane - Vampire King and Chloe Armitage - General) along with (Clayton Maze - General) and the vampire army are wanting to wipe out the Mirovar Force Team and Blake Force Team once and for all wanting to leave none alive!

What does the war do to all those involved? Who lives and who dies within this war? Who wins and who loses in the scheme of things? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Once again as in previous books there are guns blazing a trail of fire throughout the whole book,


along with sword fighting that literally plays out before your eyes as you can see the true masters of the sword as they slice and dice their way through the fighting,


also explosions that will send bodies flying through the air.


When you have a war there are going to be casualties, blood, gore, etc. which brings the pages alive and slams the reader into a bloody battle of life and death!

The Crane War has ramped up and has kicked into high gear! Grab your snacks plus your soda along with your swords and guns and get ready to be swept away into the Metaframe War as this book will ROCK YOU TO THE CORE!

The speed of the pages turning in the last half of the book was like a bullet train speeding down the track as when the action becomes a non-stop force there is no slowing down and there is not much sleep as the action on the pages comes alive with bullets whizzing and swords slashing behind your eyes!

The author, Graeme Rodaughan has created a world of vampires and vampire hunters raging a war that takes all the books in this series to high levels of action, intrigue, suspense, and tension with little to no sleep while reading the books (trust me on this - this is "fact") and there are two more books yet to go in this series. Looking forward to the last two books as I want to see how everything will be wrapped up and who ends up winning this war.

Giving this book five "slice/dice kick ass"stars!


Highly recommend to action adventure/urban fantasy fans!

For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-crane-war-metaframe-war-5-by-gr... ( )

MOVIE CINEMA ACTION!

My third time around with the fifth book in the Metaframe War series (The Crane War) made me want to go grab some swords and guns as I wanted to jump in the fray alongside the characters to kick some vampire ass as the war has escalated to a whole new level of action!

There is continuous action basically non-stop throughout most of the book and lots of different things happening within the story that slowly starts bringing things together.

The war has arrived from the King of the Vampire Dominion, Cornelius Crane as he has gathered an army of vampires along with his General, Chloe Armitage to go up against the forces of the Mirovar Force Team.

Tons of strategic planning on both sides and weapons being locked and loaded/swords and katanas sharpened for an epic battle that we have not seen since the books began.

The Mirovar Force Team members (Francis, Anton, Jay, Peter, Li, and Chiara) along with Arthur (Anton's grandfather) really mesh together in this book as though emotions are running high among them they all have made it this far together as a team. Team spirit is up and they are ready to fight for their survival against the vampires.

The Blake Force team members (Justin, Samuel, Taylor, Patrick, Tim, Max, and Red) make a full appearance in this book as they are there to assist in the fight with the vampires.

Vampire Dominion members - main characters (Cornelius Crane - Vampire King and Chloe Armitage - General) along with (Clayton Maze - General) and the vampire army are wanting to wipe out the Mirovar Force Team and Blake Force Team once and for all wanting to leave none alive!

What does the war do to all those involved? Who lives and who dies within this war? Who wins and who loses in the scheme of things? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Once again as in previous books there are guns blazing a trail of fire throughout the whole book, along with sword fighting that literally plays out before your eyes as you can see the true masters of the sword as they slice and dice their way through the fighting, also explosions that will send bodies flying through the air.

When you have a war there are going to be casualties, blood, gore, etc. which brings the pages alive and slams the reader into a bloody battle of life and death!

The Crane War has ramped up and has kicked into high gear! Grab your snacks plus your soda along with your swords and guns and get ready to be swept away into the Metaframe War as this book will ROCK YOU TO THE CORE!

The speed of the pages turning in the last half of the book was like a bullet train speeding down the track as when the action becomes a non-stop force there is no slowing down and there is not much sleep as the action on the pages comes alive with bullets whizzing and swords slashing behind your eyes!

The author, Graeme Rodaughan has created a world of vampires and vampire hunters raging a war that takes all the books in this series to high levels of action, intrigue, suspense, and tension with little to no sleep while reading the books (trust me on this - this is "fact") and there are two more books yet to go in this series. Looking forward to the last two books as I want to see how everything will be wrapped up and who ends up winning this war.

Giving this book five "slice/dice kick ass" stars!

Highly recommend to action adventure/urban fantasy fans! ( )

I know I said the book before this was my favorite of the series. But I've changed my mind. This one is my favorite! I am really loving how Li is stepping into her role as loremaster and Anton is literally going Berserker on us! This is so fun. I don't know if I'm supposed to be forming a connection with the Chameleons but I am. I mean, they are killing machines! But there is something about them that I find sweet. I'm also hoping for a good resolution for The Sand Crocodile, I really feel for his desire for honor. There is so much more I could talk about but I have to go read the next book! ( )

TL;DR--Although at this point in the series, I would've liked more world building--especially in terms of the Metaframe itself--there's more than enough awesome non-stop action and plot complexities to keep readers engaged and entertained.

Quite a number of exciting world-building developments were merely touched upon at the expense of action. In addition, as the story progressed some of the tension was taken away by almost flawless planning.

Having said that, the nemesis tower sequence is easily the best heart-in-the-throat scene in the book, so look out for it.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series to get to more of the innovative world building. ( )

All of the groundwork laid out in The Day Guard pays off in The Crane War, the fifth book in The Metaframe War by Graeme Rodaughan. Events pick up where the fourth book leaves off: the Order of Thoth has taken heavy losses; The Mirovar Force Team is plotting how to best use the newly discovered information about the Panopticon; Cornelius Crane is as paranoid as ever; Chloe continues to play the faithful servant while working on a solution to her implant problem. The action is non-stop and the schemes within each faction definitely keep things interesting.

One of Rodaughan's strength lies in his ability to write heart pounding cinematic action. The Crane War does the impossible by dialing up the intensity. The blending between various points of view and fighting styles is seamless. Once reaching the final third of the book it was hard to take breaks, there was so much constantly happening. I'm not sure if I was more impressed with Chiara's defense of the nemesis tower or Anton and Arthur's final showdown in the hanger at the end. All that was missing was a rampaging tank!

Plot-wise, I am enjoying the Vampire Dominion side of things a lot more than the Order of Thoth. Chloe and Crane's constant power plays against each other, with Chloe's meticulous scheming and Crane's inherent paranoia, are delightful. On the flip side, The Order of Thoth is feeling YA in an unpleasant way when compared to the vampires. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with most of the Mirovar team being teenagers, but still!

The new world building snippets we see are both great at answering questions and frustrating at what they don't answer. I loved finally getting to meet the myth himself, Arthur Slayne, and seeing more behind the loremaster ability. Chloe makes a great discovery that I hope gets delved into deeper in the next installment. The Red Empire takes a back seat while the Order and Dominion clash.

This was a satisfying read. Now starts the long wait for book six. ( )