![]() Her Bone Season novels ( The Song Rising, 2017, etc.) navigate a multilayered society of clairvoyants. Shannon isn’t new to this game of complex storytelling. Shannon’s depth of imagination and worldbuilding are impressive, as this 800-pager is filled not only with legend, but also with satisfying twists that turn legend on its head. This world of female warriors and leaders feels natural, and while there is a “chosen one” aspect to the tale, it’s far from the main point. ![]() Representatives of each belief system-Queen Sabran the Ninth of Virtudom, hopeful dragon rider Tané of the East, and Ead Duryan, mage of the Priory from the South-are linked by the common goal of keeping the Nameless One trapped at any cost. “Do you not see? It is a cycle.” The one thing uniting all corners of the world is fear. They don’t believe that the Berethnet line, continued by generations of queens, is the sacred key to keeping the Nameless One at bay. There, a society of female mages called the Priory worships the Mother. In the South, an entirely different way of thinking exists. They forge a connection with humans by taking riders. These dragons channel the power of water and are said to be born of stars. In the East, dragons are worshiped as gods-but not the fire-breathing type. These events brought about the current order: Virtudom, the kingdom set up by Berethnet, is a pious society that considers all dragons evil. The leader of these creatures, the Nameless One, has been trapped in the Abyss for ages after having been severely wounded by the sword Ascalon wielded by Galian Berethnet. ![]() Here, evil takes the shape of fire-breathing dragons-beasts that feed off chaos and imbalance-set on destroying humankind. No, the Nameless One is not a new nickname for Voldemort. ![]() Pure, unadulterated epic fantasy-this 600-plus-page doorstopper will leave readers simultaneously satisfied and frustrated knowing how long they’ll have to wait to find out what transpires next in the sprawling realm of Osten Ard.Īfter 1,000 years of peace, whispers that “the Nameless One will return” ignite the spark that sets the world order aflame. The extensive histories and mythologies that Williams has created in this realm (beginning in 1988 with The Dragonbone Chair) are comparable to fantasy’s most meticulously rendered realms, like Tolkien’s Middle-earth and Martin’s Westeros. But the inconsistent pacing and unsatisfying ending are more than counterbalanced by deep character development, impressive plot intricacy, and rich worldbuilding. Readers who have spent countless hours immersed in this story may be less than pleased with the abrupt stoppage. Additionally, the ending is not a conclusion at all but a respite. The grand-scale storytelling, however, does become unwieldy in extended sequences, and that narrative bloat negatively impacts the book's momentum. Williams initially braids together the multiple plot threads adeptly-an impressive feat when considering the multitude of characters he's following. The nomadic grasslanders have a new leader who is uniting the clans for war, and the near-immortal Norns are inexplicably gathering and following their ageless queen into Hayholt, King Simon’s home. When King Simon’s grandson and heir to the throne, Prince Morgan, is thought to be kidnapped by savage “grasslanders” and his wife, Queen Miriamele, is caught up in a violent uprising while attending a wedding in far-off Nabban, he is left alone to deal with the chaos closing in around him. Although the kingdoms and factions are seemingly at peace, increasing political tensions and deep-seated animosity have turned the continent into a powder keg about to explode into all-out war. The novel begins with Osten Ard-which is inhabited by mortals and a variety of fantastical races-in flux. The shelf-bending second installment in Williams’ Last King of Osten Ard saga (after The Witchwood Crown, 2017) exemplifies the very best-and worst-that epic fantasy has to offer.
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