The Beating of His Wings (Left Hand of God, 3) Paperback – December 2, 2014

I like the entire story. This third book is the conclusion of the story, not a work that stands alone. So, what should the rating mean? Should it tell a potential buyer that the series, overall, is good? On that basis, it would (and does) get four stars.Or should it tell others who have already purchased the first two volumes of the trilogy whether the quality of the story-telling has improved or declined in relation to the previous works? On that basis, it would get three stars.For this individual book, on the plus side:(1) The author actually got the long-awaited conclusion to the story out the door.(2) The third volume of the trilogy actually concluded the story, in a way that is not open-ended. So unlike, say, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the trilogy is unlikely to be expanded to four or five books :-)On the minus side:(1) As regards the battles, the story proceeds at pretty much the same pace for the first two books and three-quarters of the third book. The story mostly revolves around Cale and his prickly relationships with friends and enemies, with this punctuated by the occasional large battle, where his hallmark ability to judge the strategic and tactical situation, along with his pragmatic ruthlessness (although hardly remorselessness) come into play. Cale and company are pushed into a corner by the ever more victorious Redeemers. Then the third book makes a huge leap, leaving all the required battles in between to your imagination, so that it can proceed to the penultimate battle. I had the impression that the author just ran out of steam here. It could be that the author just ran out of pages, and was forced to cut the story short, or else suffer the indignity of having to split the third book and publish a four-volume trilogy. Either way, I was mildly disappointed at missing out on more lurid descriptions of death and destruction.You might think that the points I listed on the plus side are something that one should be able to take for granted, and therefore not really pluses. But I'm still waiting for the conclusion of "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, and for the next installment in "Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin, it's been years, and it could be more years. So I don't take those things for granted.

I debated actually buying this for a long time. I liked "The Left Hand of God" and "The Last Four Things" enough to put this on a wish list, but not so much that I actually wanted to shell out cash to see how the series ended. I finally decided that I have too many unfinished book series to let this one slide.Now I kind of wish I had. The book opens with a preface that comes across as kind of snide, as though Hoffman knows lots of people wish he hadn't flip-flopped so much between obvious fantasy and vague historical references, and thought they were stupid for not getting what he was going for. Past that, it actually goes fairly well - I actually did like that Cale was laid low and forced to rely more on his wits than sheer killing ability, even if I thought the unexplained sickness was a cheap way of making that happen.The ending is just crap, though. Won't spoil it here, but while there is a little bit of catharsis, it mainly feels like Hoffman just wanted to finish the series without actually resolving anything. In a way, I think the reader gets more closure than any of the characters.If you've followed the series this far, you might as well finish it. One read, though, is more than enough.

First I want to say that as an American, I wanted Arbell Materazzi (or Ferrazzi, as it's translated for some reason I'm the Italian) to rush into his arms weeping, declaring that it was Thomas all the time, that she'd been raising their daughter, then they both tearfully recognize they have an opportunity, and the book ends with tears of joy and a warm, fuzzy feeling. Folks, a Brit wrote this book so you have a central character as complicated as a Graham Greene anti-hero. If you've studied any history at all, you'll recognize reflections of real historical characters mashed together the way Philip Jose Farmer did. If you've studied philosophy at all, you'll see in this book a better explanation of Kant than the claptrap they teach in university. So very well done ... In an entirely British way, however, so I don't think we'll see this made into a movie.

After having waited for the best part of a year from reading the first 2 enthralling instalments of this story, I eagerly anticipated a thunderous denouement in which Cale finally vanquishes his ultimate enemy - Bosco. What we actually get is a far more subtle and sophisticated realisation of Cale's ambitions, beautifully drawn and characterised by the author who deserves high praise of his treatment of a delicate emotional battle within the hero. In all honesty, on first reading I felt it slightly anti-climactic in nature, but on reading it again, more slowly and able to appreciate the lustre of the prose and the subtly of the sub-plots woven to alternatively contrast and complement the inner struggles of the main protagonist, I began to appreciate the artistry and skill of the author. Rarely can the attribute of "depth" be accorded to a novel of this genre, but, I truly believe that Mr Hoffman has thus achieved this worth accolade.

I really like this series but one thing it really lacks is a world setting, I am not sure if this book is set in a post-apocalyptic-world or alternate, especially if you have Switzerland and the Mississippi next to each other.If it is indeed a alternate world where the Mississippi and Switzerland are on the the same continent. I feel like the author could have used a made up world instead of using real world locations. There is no point in having the neutrality of the Swiss projected with the same name into this book, since he explains that the "Swiss" in his book have had a long lasting neutrality, he could have as easily named them something different and put a few more lines on the history of them. Personally I feel that if this had been clearer this series would have been a lot more enjoyable.

One battle after the next with not much in between and longueurs of little to nothing happening to the characters.Very annoying that the main character's (whose name I already cannot bring to mind after little more than a week) dread disease is never identified beyond vague references to its origin probably being psychosomatic.As other reviewers have proposed, this feels far more like a contractual obligation with little to no interest by the author. I waded through the ever more turgid prose to the bitter end and placed the book down more with a slight sigh of relief for completing it than a sense of a wonderful journey's end.

The story and it's characters were engaging and it's been a good enough series. There is however, something a little odd about the books - Hoffman doesn't seem to have taken the times to work out some solid geography and history for his world. As such, there are events (and therefore language associated with them) from our past and our present, as well as from this new world. It also at times feels like it could be set in our past, yet at others, feels like it could be in our possible future. This is probably due to facts such as, in this world Jesus Christ existed but it was a long time ago and hardly noticed. The blending of worlds give the series a strange dream-like quality.As other reviewers have mentioned, Hoffman also has a habit of taking us aside in the story to explain a character's actions: at one stage in particular, we are told that it's strange that after everything that has gone between Cale and Arbell, he still loves her... Eh, no it's not. First off, he's still young. Second, no one has any real control over who they love. How many people can honestly say that they haven't cared for someone who has fallen out of love with them in return - or dealt with the fallout as a friend or family member has ended up in the situation.The ending - especially for Cale's two friends, Vague Henri and Kleist, feels like Hoffman had written the books with one ending but that his editors didn't like it so he was forced to rewrite but didn't think to go back over the rest of the book to amend accordingly.Overall, I enjoyed the story well enough but doubt that I would read any future works of Hoffman's.

I bought this for myself as I love to read and I was recommended this book series - I haven't had the chance to read this book yet, but it arrived a few days after ordering it and was in perfect condition.

I thought "The Left Hand of God" was excellent - "The Last Four Things" was good sadly the final "The Beating of His Wings" continues the slow decline to average. This is a shame the story deserved a better conclusion- it felt as if the author had lost interest and only wrote the book to satisfy his publisher and bank manager.The beginning of the book is tiresomely cynical and full of elliptical phrasing to try and make the lazy writing look sophisticated. This is a schoolboy trick and indeed the first few chapter felt as if they were written by teenagers rather than for teenagers.The end is again lazy and one gained the impression that the author just could not wait to bring down the final curtain.All in all disappointing - the author can write well and even very well - why did he choose to throw this story away?

There are some books which I can read many times and still enjoy them and find them enthralling; books by David Gemmell, Conn Iggulden, Anthony Riches and several more. There are books by other authors which I have purchased because they had good reviews but which were, to be kind, icredibly tedious and which I persevered with because I'd bought them, but did not enjoy reading even once, let alone many times. The three books by this author fall into that category.