She tries her best, but I find I’d rather see a character fail and get back up then succeed at every attempt. I also love the fact that this doesn’t come easy for her. I think her will to find her brother and her will to stop the Nightbringer is what really makes her interesting to me. She’s not strong like Helene or Elias, but she has that will. I know many folks had issues with Laia and her involvement in the story, but at the same time it makes sense to her character. She’s got a lot of tricks up her sleeve in this one and they didn’t disappoint. I’m so glad Sabaa Tahir’s got that ability to tease and taunt you throughout the novel, make you keep reading her book, and then surprise you. I’ve read so many books in the middle of the series where it pushes you nowhere until the very last 50 pages and then it moves like fire. So you can say that this book fills the space between the second and the fourth novel, but it does it in a way that will entertain you and digs deeper into the world and the characters. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg for what will happen next. There’s the downfall of a major city that The Blood Shrike, Elias, and Laia are all working towards. However, there was so much happening in this one that I didn’t even imagine could take place.

I was worried with this one being the third book in a four-book series that it would be a filler between the second and the fourth book. It’s a nonstop action-packed story that moves. Once again, I’m just so impressed by Sabaa Tahir and this world she’s created. However, in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender-even if that means abandoning the woman he loves. During the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she’d have to fight.Īnd in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor’s volatility to grow her own power-regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.įar to the east, Laia of Serra knows that the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer.

Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister’s life and the lives of everyone in the Empire.

A reaper at the gate