The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne) (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne) Paperback – October 6, 2016

After finishing the Last Mortal Bond, I must say that Brian Staveley is now one of my favorite authors. This man could write about paint drying and I’d read it…..seriouslyThe words epic, exciting, exhilarating and meaningful do not give Brian Staveley’s The Last Mortal Bond, close to the praise that it deserves. Let’s just get this out of the way, Holy Hull this book was nothing short of amazing, as Staveley has effortlessly pulled off one of the hardest jobs to do in fantasy, ending a great trilogy on a high note while at the same time making you wanting more from this great universe. This book’s been on my to read list ever since I ploughed through the second book in the series The Providence of Fire, my favorite book of 2015 and I came into this one with expectations as high as the heavens themselves. Readers and fans know that this is always a dangerous proposition, coming into any work with high expectations but this time the product matched my expectations. Well done.The Last Mortal Bond is epic in every sense of the word. At the start of the novel, the Empire of Annur is burning. A power hungry magic user, known as a leach is feeding off the fear and pain caused by an invasion spearheaded by a god in human form. His hordes are wreaking havoc and destruction in the northern portion of the Empire killing and pillaging everything in their path. The Empire’s Army of the North is holding off the invasion but only barely with more Urghal, a people inspired by the Huns and Mongols pouring over the border to take part in the destruction. In the midst of the chaos, the Empire is politically divided as two of the children of late Emperor have both seized power, and both have reasons for mistrusting one another to heal the rift. To make matters worse, while the Empire is falling apart, the Urghal invading from the north, its eastern and western borders squeezed by their neighbors on those sides, the ancient foes of humanity the Csestriim have returned to wipe out humanity once and for all. The Csestriim only need to get their hands on and kill two of the incarnate gods that have been playing in our world, and humanity is finished, done, caput.The stage is set for a story full of kinetic and fun action sequences, revelation, political intrigue and sacrifice. I’m proud to say that The Last Mortal Bond delivers on all these points. The worldbuilding is solid, building on the solid foundation of the first two books, Staveley crafting a breathable world that is both vibrant and alive. The author’s pedigree is actually in Ancient World History and Comparative Religion, a background that adds a sense of depth not normally seen in fantasy novels. Even with all the chaos of an Empire under siege the author is able to slowly peel back the scales from the reader’s eyes revealing the history of the world and the true relationship between humanity, their foes the Csestriim, and the gods that shaped them both. It’s a cliché to say that all will be revealed, but Staveley does a good job catching all the balls he’d thrown up in the air thus far in the series.The action sequences in this novel are phenomenal, among some of the most well thought out and crafted I have read. Sure, it is a fantasy novel, meaning you are going to have your unbelievable moments, but combat and military maneuvers are realistic in a way that grabs the reader. The Ketrral, the Special Forces soldiers of the Annurian Empire are unleashed in this novel, and when I say unleashed, I mean the author seemed to take a perverse pleasure placing them in impossible situations and allowing them to fight their way out in the most awesome manner possible. The fate of the Kettral as implied by the cover is key in determining many of the battles in the novel and we are also given some key backstory on the group. Likewise, the Kettral are not the only ones who get their moment as others join in the mayhem, filling the book with epic yet awesome carnage. All the action scenes are character driven, one always knows what’s at stake and there are no pointless scenes. While the battle sequences are well executed and mountains of fun, they are also gritty and in no way glorify war or conflict. Some of the characters are broken by combat and the cries of the wounded and dying fill the pages. Even in the chaos, even when legions or others are making a noble sacrifice or last stand, Staveley finds a way to make you care about those soldiers fighting, raising the stakes even more. When they win, you feel the victory, when they’re betrayed you feel that sense of betrayal all the more.With so much on the line, I must say that the standout for me reading this novel was Staveley’s brilliant characterization and dialogue. While juggling so many different plot points, Staveley still allows his characters to grow organically, realistically, surprising the reader with their progress. Our favorite foul mouthed Kettral for instance, shows leagues of growth in this novel, growth that I would not have thought possible after reading the first book in the series. Every character in this work, speaks with their own voice and their motivations are clear or intentionally obscured by the author with either sharp dialogue or poignant actions. Normally in a given novel I have a favorite character or two, but in The Last Mortal Bond, almost every character introduced had their moment, their moment where I fell in love with them. Of course one still has his favorites, (Pyrre, the Flea, Nira just to name a few) but there are no weak characters in this novel, which given the massive amount of world building taking place in this novel and the series as a whole is no small feat.Staveley is a master at dialogue and characterization and opening the book I was amazed how he was able to draw me into the emotional state of his characters with his dialogue and characterization. I thought Mark Lawrence was the king of dialogue, but Staveley is easily his peer. The world may be dark, the stakes high, but Staveley doesn’t let it get to dark as macabre and dark humor pokes its head through the dialogue of his characters. Staveley also does an expert job of playing with the traditional point of view, giving insight to an individual’s doubts while also showing how others view them which is normally at odds with how they view themselves. Rather than disorient the reader, this simply made the characters more three dimensional for me, more human, more real. Also with the exception of the villain, almost no character knows the right course of action to take or is sure that they are doing the right thing and they constantly slip up making them all sympathetic in their own way.Normally a story about a massive invasion, full of epic battles and heroics are enough to make any story noteworthy. Staveley’s conceit is that he is talented enough to weave a story with an empire on the ropes and make that the B story of his novel. The real war is the struggle between Kaden, Adare and Valyn to some extent, is to finally defeat the Csestriim by denying them the two gods they are trying to kill thereby wiping out humanity. The fact that only a select cadre of people in the world, along with the reader is aware of this gives the whole idea that everyone in the book, though fighting and dying are missing the point. The war, though bloody and full of suffering is not the end goal nor is the survival of the Empire the point. Both are just tools by the Csestriim to achieve their goals of wiping out humanity, and most people are unaware that they are simply pawns in a much larger game.Are there some weak points in the novel? Sure. One storyline in particular from the previous novel was seemingly dropped and not developed in this novel which was a slight bummer. Also one of my favorite characters from Providence of Fire, was relegated to the background a bit in this work and I would have loved to see more of them here. I would also argue that at times Adare annoyed me to no end in this novel, as sometimes I literally wanted to reach through the pages of the book and shake some sense into her. However, these are all minor I cannot say enough about the Last Mortal Bond. This book is amazing in every sense of the word.I cannot recommend the Last Mortal Bond highly enough. The world building is superb, one of the most intricately created and well thought out worlds I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing through the written word. His characterization is superb, the dialogue is top notch and the action scenes are amazing. Brian Staveley has done the impossible, provided a fitting end to an already phenomenal series. I don’t know what he’s gonna write next, but I tell you one thing….I’ll be buying it.Oh and one more thing, The Flea/Pyrre 2016……

Overall, I really enjoyed Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne and The Last Mortal Bond, it does have some flaws. I found the beginning of this story to be excruciatingly slow. The first 150 pages were quite boring despite Staveley's consistently strong and intricate writing. While this type of slow lead up is typical in the first book of the series, it detracts from the overall story as 20% of this culminating and final book is relatively forgettable.On the other hand, once the story gets moving, it was very hard to put down. The characters continue to develop in interesting ways and are built to mirror the complexity of their world and role in it. All three of the siblings, Adare, Kaden, and Valyn, gain more depth in this story as they struggle to deal with what they have become and the mistakes that they have made on their various pathways. Staveley continues to play with the theme of nature vs nurture, as the characters struggle with who them have become, and who they believe they should be as members of the royal Malkeenian line. The final scenes of the story, and several of the immediate events leading up to those scenes, feel a bit contrived and only their to advance the plot. Staveley also hints at deception, the thought that Kaden may have been played in an elaborate plot and have the entire situation wrong, but then abandons it after a brief stint in the spotlight. This removes one of the most interesting parts of the story and feels as though we are left with an incomplete product that could have been great but turned out only good. Additionally, the main villain feels like an afterthought in the end and doesn't put up enough of a fight given the lead up to the whole process.If you're reading this review, you have most likely read The Emperor's Blades and the Providence of Fire. In this case, The Last Mortal Bond is a must read and offers a somewhat satisfying conclusion in entertaining fashion. If you are deciding on whether to read this series as a whole, Chronicle of the Unhewn throne is somewhat of a mixed bag, but highly entertaining, engrossing, and well written nonetheless.

Dark, thrilling masterpiece of High Fantasy. Violence, mythology and philosophy intruigingly combined.Other sagas don't come to an end, unfortunately, whereas this story ends to fast.Can't wait for the sequels, which are announced for 2021.

The final chapter of the unhewn throne is breathless, fast action. I really liked how the characters become mature and change as the series has progressed.

L'histoire est magnifique. Il ne faut pas s'attendre à un happy ending, mais à des personnages extraordinaires qui sont pris dans des circonstances extraordinaires, et qui sont humains et font ce qu'ils peuvent et certainement des erreurs.C'est noir, mais beau, j'y ai laissé quelques larmes.Si vous avez aimé les précédents vous adorerez celui-là.

- Very good writing- Great world building- Good characterization- Very interesting storyOverall a very good series that got better with each book

A fantastic conclusion to a fantastic series of books. Did I already say what a good book :) let me say it again. I enjoyed everything about it. Intelligent, engaging and imaginative story telling. Awakened my imagine but didn't bogg the story down with too many unnecessary details, and still painted a complete and thriving fantasy world. Best series I've read in a very long time !