May the Queen’s Light Guide Us

When it comes to trilogies, each book has a purpose. The first book sets up the main characters, the story and the world and is supposed to grab the audiences attention . The second book expands on the characters, expands on the story and sets up the finale. The final book is the payoff. It wraps up the conflict, the characters stories and needs to have a satisfying ending.

In my opinion, the finale is the trickiest of the three to get right. You can have a fantastic story and characters and the screw up the finale of your series big. (Yes Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen series I am looking at you.) The finale has to be just right of else fans will hate you as an author. You can’t rush the story and it can’t be left to the imagination.

This a roundabout way of saying that one of the two books I am reviewing this time around is a perfect example of how to conclude a trilogy. Claire Legrand’s Empirium Trilogy is a series that I have RAVED about in the past and the finale had a lot to live up to. Fortunately for fans of the series, the book blew away my expectations and adeptly demonstrated for you conclude a series.

As for the other book in this set of reviews, it is a bit of tricky proposition. Signe Pike’s Lost Queen trilogy had a good, solid opening book but the second book is kind of in weird spot. I enjoyed the book, but it almost doesn’t fit into the linear line of the trilogy. Which is a great segway to the first review of this post.

Signe Pike’s The Forgotten Kingdom is a hard book to review. On one hand, it picks up on and continues the story from the first book in the trilogy. But on the other hand, the book moves at breakneck speed and rarely gives you a chance to catch your breath. You are left to ponder the events of the book and try and gather what you can from the preceding chapter before being thrown into the next plotline. The fast paced, yet methodical way the story progresses is both a blessing and a curse, which is why I’m so torn with regards to this book.

The story once again is told from multiple points of view and like the last book, lets us the reader known who is speaking. Languoreth and Lailoken are once again the focus of the book but another quite prominent PoV is added in the shape of Languoreth’s daughter Angharad. These three stories are separated by many miles and yet intertwine beautifully. Languoreth struggling with loss and the impending war and Lailoken struggling with the loss of most of the Dragon Warriors are the main points the story follows and they are good and heartfelt stories. Pike does an excellent job of making you feel the emotions the twins are going through. But young Angharad’s story is not something to be ignored. I don’t know what impact it have on the finale, but her travels through the lands of the Pict are intriguing. She grows up without her mother at her side and once she is reunited with her family, she is a different person. Again, it’s unclear what impact this third major storyline will have on the finale but it is one worth paying attention to.

This book is a tad bit harder to judge than the opening book in the series. While the excellent characters and the breathtaking world are massive pluses for this book, the fast paced story leaves something to be desired. While still good, the narrative is a lot to take in in a short amount of time and it is easy to become lost and confused in the narrative. But overall, Forgotten Kingdom is a worth sequel to Lost Queen.

Verdict- 4 stars. A fast paced story notwithstanding, this is definitely a worthwhile read.

We now come to the main event of this set of reviews and it is one that I am ecstatic to review. Claire Legrand’s Empirium Trilogy has become a standout series for me and one that I am constantly recommending to fellow readers. After the heartbreaking and infuriating (in a good way) Kingsbane, I was desperate the read the conclusion of the trilogy. And boy oh boy did it not disappoint. Lightbringer instantly shoots to the top of the list for best books that I have read this year. This is certainly a feat considering that Sarah J Maas released House of Earth and Blood this year, another book that I have raved about.

Lightbringer had A LOT to live up to. The emotional and heartbreaking ending of Kingsbane was a lot to take in and was a definite cliffhanger. But, in more ways than one, Lightbringer delivers on the promise. As with the previous entries in the series, the world building is outstanding. It is easily some of the best lore and world building I have read in a series. It is packed full of history, detail and characters that you are anxious to know. The excellent world that Legrand creates allows to immerse yourself in the excellent story that is conjured up.

The story of Lightbringer is full of twists, turns and surprises. Melding the twin stories of Rielle and her daughter Eliana, the story rockets it’s way towards an explosive conclusion. For Rielle, the story is constantly moving and fast paced. We know what lies at the end of her story, but it’s how she gets there that fascinates us. As for Eliana, her story starts off slowly before it shifts into high gear as The Prophet finally reveals their true identity. Stuck in the clutches of the Emperor Corien, Eliana must fight for her survival all the while trying to find a way to save her world.

These two main characters are supplemented by an excellent plethora of side characters. The Lightbringer himself, Audric, is a character we desperately want to see have a happy outcome. But again, we know where his story concludes so we are left with this impending feeling dread. The tragic figure of Ludivine, who may have doomed everyone with her actions, the betrayer Simon, whose neck we want to strangle. These are just some of the wonderful litany of side characters that dot the story and help make every action that Eliana and Rielle make more impactful.

And speaking of characters, I want to address our main antagonist. Not it’s not Rielle, as some people will argue, but instead Corien. Corien has emerged as one of my favorite literary villains. He is cunning, deceitful, charming at times, brutal when he needs to be and has singular vision. He is never painted as a sympathetic villain. He embraces his role as a villain and he sometimes does acts of true evil because he can. This is the kind of villain I like to see sometimes and a breath of fresh air to see this kind of old school villain.

I also want to address Rielle without giving away too many spoilers. Many people will claim that Rielle is the main villain of this series. The events of Kingsbane transform her from tragic figure, to the monster and villain that she is portrayed as. I disagree with that sentiment. Yes, she does bad things, yes she is not remorseful at times. But she is doing everything in service to Corien. I don’t truly believe that she is a true villain. I believe her to be more of an anti-hero.

All of these characters are hurtling towards an ending that has already been outlined. Audric and Rielle will meet in a climatic battle, Audric will pay with his life and Corien and the angels will rise. But when the Prophet at last reveals themselves, everything changes. The reveal of the Prophet is a good one, even if I was able to guess who the Prophet was. With the reveal of the Prophet, the story that we think we know the ending to vanishes. Everything becomes murky and up in the air. Without giving anything away, the ending the bittersweet, emotional and a masterclass in terms of crafting an ending worthy of a fantastic series. There will be those who detest the ending and that’s fine. yes, the ending was bittersweet but I still think it’s a good ending for the series.

Overall, Lightbringer is a masterpiece. Like its two predecessors, its characters are fantastic, its story surprising an full of twists and turns and it delivers on the promise that Furyborn gave us when we first started down this fantastic path.

Verdict- 5 stars. If it wasn’t for two Sarah J Maas series, this series would be in the top two. As it is, it settles for third place and this final entry is the best of the bunch.