The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley

The trilogy that began with The Emperor's Blades and continued in The Providence of Fire reaches its epic conclusion, as war engulfs the Annurian Empire in Brian Staveley's The Last Mortal Bond The ancient csestriim are back to finish their purge of humanity; armies march against the capital; leaches, solitary beings who draw power from the natural world to fuel their extraordinary abilities, maneuver on all sides to affect the outcome of the war; and capricious gods walk the earth in human guise with agendas of their own. But the three imperial siblings at the heart of it all--Valyn, Adare, and Kaden--come to understand that even if they survive the holocaust unleashed on their world, there may be no reconciling their conflicting visions of the future. Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne The Emperor's Blades The Providence of Fire The Last Mortal Bond Other books in the world of the Unhewn Throne Skullsworn At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

I can't give this enough stars. I need more than five. Any way Goodreads can add some stars? 10? 20? This series is amazing, this particular book is incredible. The writing, the world building, the raw emotional wreckage it put me through...I can't wait to read what Brian Staveley writes next. He could write a lawn mower repair manual and I'd probably be like “Better pre-order that! It's gonna be fantastic!”

Executive Summary: Not as good as the first book, but probably better than the second. I found this to be a pretty good conclusion to a good series that didn't quite live up to it's potential.Audiobook: Simon Vance is awesome. I just find him a bit quiet at times. I wish the audio people would adjust his volume up a little bit. He does a variety of voices and speaks with great inflections making this series a big plus in audio.Full ReviewIn many ways my review for this book could be a repeat of my review for [b:The Providence of Fire 22055280 The Providence of Fire (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #2) Brian Staveley https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405301050s/22055280.jpg 39923827]. I found the emperor's kids to be annoying, and often incompetent. Just less so. I think Gwenna's chapters/story was far more interesting and enjoyable. In particular both Kayden and Adele had parts I found slowed the overall story, and left me eager to get back to other subplots.Gwenna's story meanwhile, showed excellent development as the series went on, especially in this book. Her path from interesting secondary character to favorite POV character was definitely the highlight for me. I think I might have liked this series more if focused more (or entirely) on Gwenna's journey, and the Kettral. There are just a lot of other subplots in this book that felt slow or seemed to bog down the overall story. It was as though Mr. Staveley was trying a bit too hard to cram an epic fantasy's world building into a trilogy. I did find some of the politics and theology compelling, just not as much as the idea of an elite fighting force who rode on the backs of monstrous birds.There was a point in time when I couldn't seem to get enough dark fantasy. All of my favorite books a few years ago fell into that category. Eventually I reached a tipping point though, and started to look for lighter fare. This series is definitely a lot darker than most of the things I've read the last few years. Things get so bleak that I reached a point where I was wondering what exactly I was rooting for at the end. That's a bit too much for me.Yet despite that, I found it hard to stop listening. I always did want to know what came next. I think that this book does a good job of bringing the conflicts setup in the previous books to a good conclusion.Overall, this was an enjoyable series despite my complaints. I'll be eager to see what Mr. Staveley has in store for us next.

Pros: excellent world-building, lots of action, complex characters and plot

Cons: minor irritants

Note: This is the third book in the series and as such my review contains spoilers for the earlier books. This is an excellent series. You can read my review of book 1 here.

It's been several months since the events in The Providence of Fire. Adare remains with Il Tornja in the North, protecting Annur from the barbarian Urghul. When a messenger from Kaden's republic arrives, asking for her to return to the capital as a puppet ruler, a series of events unfolds, allowing Il Tornja to pursue his true goal. Meanwhile the remains of Valyn's wing return to the Eyrie to find out what's happened there, while Kaden tries to untangle the mystery of gods walking the earth.

The first few chapters get you back up to speed with regards to what everyone's been up to the past few months. It's a bit disorienting, but things quickly get interesting as the intrigues pile up. There are a number of plots weaving around each other, getting ever more complicated as time goes on.

There's a fair amount of action, with descriptions of war, torture (limited), and a LOT of one on one or small group battles. The action is varied and never dull. In between, there's a fair bit of politics (mainly Adare) and philosophical questions (mainly Kaden).

One scene greatly confused me for a few pages until I finally figured out what was happening.

As with the other books the world-building is fantastic. We get to see more of the world, including learning more about the Skullsworn and their religious order.

The motivations of the characters are as complex as the plot. People make, question, and regret decisions. They act in own best interests based on their information of what's going on in the world. They lie to advantage and tell the truth when it suits them. They're infuriating at times, and completely understandable.

It's a great ending to an excellent series.