Ratings2
Average rating4.5
Bingmei was born to survive the greatest evil in the world. To outlast it she must be reborn. In a world of night, she is the light. She alone can break the evil of the Grave Kingdom.
As kingdoms fall, brave young warrior Bingmei fights to fulfill a prophecy and save what’s left of the world from the coming darkness. Should she fail, Echion, the diabolical Dragon of Night, and his queen will hold sway over the next thousand years. With Echion comes his unstoppable army of dragons—powerful, vengeful, and under his control.
Accompanied by her loyal friend Quion, Bingmei journeys toward her last hope. It lies among the savage beasts just beyond the ancient Death Wall—an uninhabited realm from which no one has ever returned alive. Bingmei’s mission is to find the phoenix shrine and learn the Immortal Words that will allow her to harness eternal magic. With Echion and his legions in pursuit, Bingmei must choose her words wisely to break Echion’s spell and accept her fate.
Bingmei knows what she must do. She must join the ranks of the dead as well. For a fearless and selfless warrior, it’s the ultimate sacrifice. But Bingmei is about to discover that even in death, the greatest sacrifices are yet to come.
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3 primary booksThe Grave Kingdom is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Jeff Wheeler.
Reviews with the most likes.
The Immortal Words is the third in the Grave Kingdom trilogy, and what an ending! In this book, Bingmei has accepted that she is the phoenix-bound and that she must act to stop Echion and Xisi from inflicting a reign of terror on the world. She is ready to sacrifice herself as the prophecy says she must, and she is aided in her quest only by her friend Quion.
But sacrifice has many meanings, and Bingmei does not die. She sees the suffering Echion has wrought, not only in the physical world, but beyond the Death Wall. Loved ones cannot find each other in the afterlife. She knows she has to press on, to stop Echion, and she determines that she will do whatever it takes to kill him.
Jeff Wheeler does a masterful job at setting up some twists and turns here. There were were a couple of times I had to pick my jaw up off the floor, thinking, oh, wait, he did NOT just do that with that character! But he did, and it was a glorious read. Action aplenty, good versus evil, and an ending that doesn't neatly tie up everything with a bow. Because really, in this life, can evil ever be completely defeated? No, it survives, with the potential to come roaring back in another form and with another face.
This is a worthwhile read, and I hope Mr. Wheeler revisits this world in another series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for an advance review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.