Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is a great conclusion to this series, and sets the scene nicely for what I hope will be a new series with some of these characters. This book picks up right after the events of the second book.

Declan Smith and Baron Daylon Dumarch are determined to avenge their families that were killed by the raiders. With the help of the treasure ship that Hava stole, Dumarch sets about repairing Marquensas and building an army. He tasks Declan with securing more of the special sand to create the strong steel for new weapons. Declan runs into complications during this mission, and spends the entire book working his way back to Marquenas. This part of the book had a lot of action and it was great to see Declan come into his own as a leader. This served him well later in the book when they attacked the raider’s land.

Hava investigates who attacked them and is surprised to find a connection with the raiders. She undertakes a covert mission to infiltrate the raider’s land and starts to sow seeds of rebellion in the harsh land. If her efforts are successful, it will make crushing the raiders easier. Hava, ever capable, was the steadiest character in the book but had the least amount of growth in the book.

Meanwhile Hatu, the last remaining member of the ruling family of Ithrace, the legendary Firemanes, spends the entire book learning to control the magical powers he has inherited. He is aided by several mysterious men throughout the book, and I was glad that something happened at the end that I had earlier expected. While the current series was wrapped up, the book ended on a great cliffhanger to set up what I hope to be the next series. If that’s in the works, I will definitely read it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager. All opinions are my own.