Book III - The Last Mortal Bond - Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne

The major plots unravel and the final character resolutions are completely unsatisfying. I loved the first two books, but this was a chore to read as it dragged in many places. Staveley did a great job of creating this world, but he ends this series in a way that makes me question why I invested time in these characters.

Great little trilogy with some really fresh ideas in a self contained world. Bursting with cool stuff and a lot of potential novellas, sequels, spin offs and prequels to come .... Maybe the new dragon lance world.

Brian Staveley has penned a fitting end to the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy. Oftentimes the best book of a trilogy from a debut author is the first one with a significant drop off in quality over the next two volumes. Not so with this one, as each volume manages to stand on its own two feet. In TLMB, arcs are completed, secrets are revealed, the world is expanded, and the door is left open for future stories with the characters we've been following for the past three years.

Highly recommended.

I was really looking forward to this book, unfortunately I was holding my expectations too high for my favourite character 'Valyn'.

This book feels like it started with all the time in the world, then, as you near the 3/4 mark, it suddenly speeds up to the point that it skips ahead to the aftermath of the battles you wait the entire book to read.

The commentary with certain characters gets repetitive, and I found myself skim reading a few pages when it came to Triste arguing the same thing she argued in the last chapter.

This all said, I'd read another book in the series if there was one. I feel like this book was so close to what I was seeking that I'd be willing, excited even, to get my hands on it. The story is great, the characters and the way they intermingle is great, it's just the execution of certain scenes that annoyed me.

Maybe I just had a different idea on the way I saw Valyn and his role in this book. I'd go into more detail here but I'd rather not write a bunch of spoilers.

What happened with this book? The first two were so good. These final book has been horribly, painful, and terribly boring. I've been dragging myself through reading this that I began skipping entire paragraphs and sections only to realize pages ahead that absolutely nothing has happened. Entire pages of endless description of irrelevant topics, constant repetition, and lackluster characters. Only the chapters about Gwenna were moderately interesting and that's a stretch. Who wrote this last book? It couldn't possibly be the same person who wrote the first two. I am so disappointed because I waited for a long time to read this. I constantly keep checking the store to see when this book would come out and I snatched it up, paying in my opinion an inflated price, because I had to know what happened next. Sigh, I deeply regret this purchase and can't imagine what caused this series to fall so far from grace.

There are moments of "OMG what happens next?!" but overall I wouldn't recommend. I like details, but only when pertinent to the story. Felt like there were way too many words describing surroundings (i was like, ok now get on with the story!) of where the characters were rather than what they're doing. Unfortunatley found myself skimming through many of the pages due to boredom. Also, a lot of the characters seemed unnecessary, like they were being introduced just to fill the pages with something or meet quota for amount of pages.

As an avid fantasy reader, the first book in this series excited me. All of the characters were intriguing, and the prologue led you to think there would be dark secrets that would slowly uncover as the series went on. The second book was equally as good, continuing the suspense, and developing some characters. However, I found the conclusion to this series to be bitterly disappointing. So many things ended up going nowhere. Characters became boring, or stupid, or pointless. The whole thing felt slow.
This series strikes me as one of those where the author had tons of ideas for a world, for a situation, in short for a first book. But i don't think he knew where to take it after that.

Amazing epic adventure with nothing that feels derivative. Complex characters that make both bad and selfless decisions. While reading I was lost in the entrancing world that Staveley has created. Anyone looking for adventurous fantasy with a fresh look and feel will surely enjoy this.

Story line reasonable, main characters terrible, author can't seem to connect the dots. Forced myself to read the first 2 books, 3rd book about a quarter of the way and can't take it any longer. Too much idiocy. Wasted my time and money

80+ hours of reading for this whole trilogy. I kept reading because I am a sucker for epic story arcs and how they come together. But the ending was simply not satisfactory and rewarding. This whole series is just a grind; a celebration of pain, misery, and capriciousness. I really wanted to like the main characters, I wanted to believe in them, but they weren't heroic or noble. I kept waiting for Adare to become more mature; I kept waiting for Valyn to accept himself. Instead, they were just people in circumstances and they don't behave in the most respectful ways. And, in most of those circumstances they made excuses for the decisions they made. Heroes don't try to annoyingly justify why they do what they do, they do them because they are compelled by a force within themselves that they are committed to and because they are brave. Perhaps Kaden is the closest thing to a hero in this series, but he isn't inspiring either. Maybe I missed the point of this series. But, if you're looking for hope, inspiration, and epic-ness, this is not the series for you.

I anxiously waited for the release of the Last Mortal Bond and I was not disappointed. This was a great series and the last book tied up a lot of loose ends. Brian Staveley is a strong writer. His world building is excellent and I couldn't wait to get back to the Annurian Empire. I appreciated the fact that Stavely could blend violence and love in his writing. The story is about Adare who while wrapped in grief over the loss of her father falls hopelessly in love with Iljorna, an ancient Csestriim bent on destroying humanity. But poor Adare doesn't figure it out until it's too late - far too late. Her brother, Valyn who is in training on the islands of the Kettral, loses the love of his life to a traitorous group attempting a coup d' etat. Lastly, Adare and Valyn's brother Kaden survives a holocaust specially created to claim his life. None of his teachers or friends survive. In book 3, lies and truth come full circle. Valyn and Kaden emerge as changed men. Adare embraces her errors and works tirelessly to rectify them. I recommend this book to teen and adult fantasy readers. You really need to read the entire series. Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne - The Last Mortal Bond is one of my personal top 10 recommendations for a good summer read. Enjoy!

One of the better series I have read recently. Excellent story telling and weaving the three paths of the two brothers and sister into a satisfying ending. Highly recommend these books to anyone who likes fantasy.

Was somewhat to very disappointed in the final book. The power hungry sister who screwsd over her brothers making bad decisions got everything she wanted without paying a price. She even denied the brother she murdered his revenge and the best character in the story gets called a traitor at the end and gets no peace or find a modicum of happiness so over all disappointed almost as much as I was with the final Ravens Song book

It's an amazing series. Other people here already have written numerous reasons to read the books. I'm just another satisfied customer. I will continue to read whatever the man writes. His stories tend to carry themselves into your own personal life with simple, bare truths about how the world turns. Plus it's fun. Very, very fun. That's what matters.

Written with wit and gore, beauty and brutality, blinding violence and peaceful silence, this trilogy takes it's reader to places deep and profound. The characters are rich and full, simple and deep, they struggle through a harsh and beautiful world full of intrigue and bold events. This is truly a must read.

Loved this book. It is a dark-gritty fantasy, and the characters are more real and relate-able to me than your typical fantasy. The plot is crazy and complex and I found myself worrying about the characters and what was going to happen after reading sessions. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a dark fantasy trilogy but does not want to be overwhelmed with main characters who have overly high moral standards.

I already knew I would love this book. I devoured the first book, bought the second as soon as it was available and did the same with the third. I simply had to know how things turned out for the Malkeenian siblings. If you enjoyed the first two books, you'll love this one.

The sing sing motion of the events moving,twisting, shaping the story are complex. The characters are coming into the final stretch and the plot thickens. Ends. Loved this series hope more come from this author!

The race to save their realm from the invasion and from the plots of the Csestrim is reaching its epic conclusion. The only people who can save the realm and humanity is the three royal siblings.

This was my favorite book of the series and a perfect conclusion, so I had to give it 5 stars. I absolutely love the characters Valyn and Kaden. Both are wonderfully complex, filled with conflicting desires/thoughts that make them seem completely real. And unlike in the first two books, there is no slow boil to this story. The reader is instantly grabbed and whisked from one adventure to the next as the story reaches its finale.

An absolute must-read. This is an amazing series and a great book!