Rating: 4/5 Stars
Pages: 336
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Macmillan-Tor/Forge
Release Date: March 10, 2020
With the King on his deathbed, Amaury is inches from grasping the power he has so desperately wanted. But winning over the affection and respect of the people of Mirabaya won't be as simple as he thinks.
As Soléne and Gill seek to help dragonkind, they’re faced with an even worse threat from within the castle itself. Soléne will have to master her magic and face everything that she’s terrified of. And Gill will have to choose between the life he thought he’d turned his back on, or letting the kingdom fall.
** Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an eARC of this book**
Ahhhh yes, I’ve made it to the end of this trilogy. And overall, I have very much enjoyed the time I spent with this trilogy (a little under 5 hours of my time by my reckoning!). If you haven’t read the first two books, good news, I have reviews for those two as well. Book 1: Dragonslayer and Book 2: Knight of the Silver Circle. So, check those out as well!
I have to admit that I’ve grown very attached to these characters, I dunno how it happened, but damn if Soléne and Gill haven’t wormed their way into my heart. And Pharadon, still a favorite of mine. My favorite part of the characters has been their growth, Gill kind of from rock bottom, given up on the world, back to his place as a Hero™. And for Soléne to face her own immense power and come to terms with it.
Overall, I think it was a good ending, but not the kind of ending that appeals to me. HEADS UP. Spoilers…. (Seriously, if you’re not interested in spoilers, why are you reading a review for the third book in a series?) SOOO YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. Anyway, my issue with the ending was that it just felt too easy and too happy. Everything kind of worked out, and that kind of ending just isn’t my favorite--I love endings that tear your heart out, but you’re kind of happy about it, because well, there’s no other way it could have been satisfying.
Anyway, I think I’ve pretty clearly spelled out some of why this series didn’t totally grab my heart before, but I think in a way it does make it a little easier to recommend. This series is definitely one that sticks to expectations from the genre. It makes me a little nostalgic to be honest, like going back to when I was first getting into fantasy and the books that I devoured then!
This is a series that I would almost definitely recommend to readers who love high fantasy. Additionally, I’ve particularly enjoyed how the books don’t take longer than they need to tell a story, they’re relatively short, and yet there’s clearly a lot of depth to them, and they’re easy to get lost in.
And there you have it, overall a great series I’d definitely recommend! To buy the book:
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