The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #3)

by Brian Staveley

DEATH IS NEAR, ARMIES ARE GATHERED, AND THE FUTURE RESTS ON A KNIFE-EDGE The Annurian Empire is losing a war on two fronts - and it's unclear who is in command. Adare is stationed in the thick of battle and now calls herself Emperor. However, she can't hold back the nomadic Urgul forces for much longer. She needs her brilliant general, Ran il Tornja, but will he betray her again? Her brother Kaden is the true heir, yet he'll accept a Republic to save his divided people. And he faces something even more terrible than war. He's unmasked Ran il Tornja as a remnant of an ancient race who attempted to destroy mankind. The general plans to finish what they started, and is amassing all the power he needs. The empire calls on the Kettral, its toughest soldiers, but their order has been decimated. Its last fighters are in disarray, but could they still turn the tide of war? Most disturbingly of all, capricious gods walk the earth in human guise. And their desires could seal the fate of a world.

• ISBN10: 0230770452
• ISBN13: 9780230770454
• Publish Date: 24 March 2016 (first published 15 March 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Tor
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 656
• Language: English

Reviews

[Ashley]

I'm pretty disappointed. I feel like this series just slowly went downhill. I had two main problems with this final book:

First: It did not need to be 600+ pages. So much of it was just people running around, not knowing what's going on, or doing things that ultimately didn't even feel that important. I'm pretty confident this book could have been cut in half.

Second: The actual ending was disappointing. I feel like there were all these massive ideas throughout the story (gods and such) and then it all just ended quite abruptly. We never got the big explanations or clarity that I had expected. It still felt like there were plenty of loose ends and unanswered questions. I certainly didn't feel satisfied. It was a big like, “I struggled through 650 pages for this..?”

My favourite chapters by far were Gwenna's and the Kettral in general. I think the Kettral were what made me fall in love with the first book, and those elements remained my favourite. I wish the story had focused solely on them.

[ross91]

So disappointed about this last installment!
Valyn is such a minor character in this one and Adare is so fucking annoying!!!
I also think this book was way too long.
The only great parts were Gwenna’s and Valyn’s.
The ending was great, so that's why I've decided to still mark it as a 4* book.
I’m very curious about Skullsworn now tho!