The Bone Shard War (The Drowning Empire)

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I read The Bone Shard Daughter for the first time on the first day of May 2020; I finished the book the next day. Jovis overcoming his circumstance through his clever ways we know and love, Mephi being his motivation and compas. instead of clever strategies or schemes or intrigue (which you might expect from an action-packed political fantasy), we get a character making the same arguments and the same negotiations over and over until the other party eventually gives in. Different factions war for power, all for different reasons and Stewart manages to show them all as genuine and motivating. Time jump in the beginning chapters was quite jarring and it took me a bit to immerse myself into some povs .

characters have the same debates over and over, the same scenes occur again and again in different fonts. I love how the story evolved, the characters grew (most of them) and how everything was so well handled in the end.

This last book splits time quite evenly between the different protagonists, and even though the series began and ended with Lin, the other characters feel of nearly equal standing over the course of the series. Although I did say there were a few sections in the middle of The Bone Shard War that felt repetitive, I was rewarded by the final 150 pages. Among the years of her life she needs to figure herself out, she's also taking care of an empire and a people who don't necessarily want her. Nils: Absolutely for me too 🥰 just like with Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy, we had a blast reading this together.

That's a long phrase and especially people who have to interact with the group daily would shorten it. The twisting turns of political negotiations, the desperation of each character to do what's right, and the carefully written world building come together to power this compelling and suspenseful fantasy . Beth: I think perhaps the biggest surprise for me at the start was Jovis’ storyline, how he had been wrenched away from Lin and how his love for Mephi was being used against him. Can you imagine if every single time a person in the FBI referred to the FBI, they said "Federal Bureau of Investigation"? We know her story, but it was also put more in context now about her past vs her present with Philaue and Ayesh (and Shark).Now this sweeping tale of magic, revolution and mystery, where a young woman's sense of identity will make or break an empire, finally comes to an epic conclusion. But as I said earlier, I was already feeling sad that Thrana was too big to fit through doors anymore, so I did have a little cry at this prospect. Two years have passed since the end of The Bone Shard Emperor, and it did take me some time to adjust to this time skip decision.