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.-Goodreads
Title: The Last Mortal Bond
Series: Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne #3
Author: Brian Staveley
Page Count: 897
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Date Read: April 7th, 2023
Opening
I've been enjoying this series via audiobook and book three did not let me down. I believe this is the end of the trilogy with a standalone that I always own and perhaps the start of another sequel. I'm not sure how Skullsworn and The Empire's Ruin fit into the series. I know they are within the same world for sure though.
As usual I will try to prevent giving much away as far as spoilers go. But I must say this, at times I feel my family is dysfunctional but these siblings blow that statement out of the water. Brothers and sisters that barely know each other and even we aren't sure who to trust up to this point.
Pacing
The pacing was just as good as the first two books. I don't know if anything specific really stands out to me other than the usuals I look for. It seems to flow well for me without much in the way of words or names that constantly trip me up.
World Building
The world building continues to be solid in the third book of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. Things do start to narrow a bit more in scope this time around as we approach the climax of this story. But it only added to the intensity with our focus really getting to a pinpoint location by the end. One thing I don't think I've mentioned up to this point in the series is how well the author lays out and describes his battle scenes. Sometimes I lose myself in a good book battle so much I don't even notice. It wasn't until I reflected on the series as a whole that I noticed this attribute of the chronicles.
Character Development
The character development continues with book three. We continue to witness the different struggles each of the siblings have leading up to the conclusion of the trilogy here. Then the understanding of the gods and the beings who carry them I felt was well done as well.
Closing
I would recommend the series to anyone who is a fan of epic fantasies with a good amount of depth and a few twists along the way.
I already own the standalone "Skullsworn" as well as the first book in Ashes of the Unhewn Throne series "The Empire's Ruin". So, you can expect to see some more mention of Brian Staveley in the future.
Scoring
Pacing 4.5 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 5.0 / 5.0
Character Development 5.0 / 5.0
