The Last Mortal Bond

by Brian Staveley
652 pgs  (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series #3)

There’s something to be said for an author who actually knows how to end their epic fantasy series. Many have made a whole career out of continuing the story they began decades earlier, and I suspect, plan to simply continue telling that story until they die. Others go ahead and end it, but do so with an unsatisfying ending. I understand Brian Staveley plans to write other books, which take place in the world of the Unhewn Thrown, but The Last Mortal Bond successfully, and satisfyingly concludes the story he began with The Emperor’s Blades.

The story begins about a year after the events of The Providence of Fire, and things are not good in Annur. The Urguhl army, headed by Balendin, the leach who pulls his power from the terror he creates in those around him, threatens to conquer the unstable republic Kaden has put in place. Valyn has been blinded, has disappeared, and is believed to be dead. And Il Tornja has taken his and Adare’s young son from her and is using him to ensure her cooperation as he searches for Kaden and Triste. There’s a lot going on in this series and Staveley does a great job of keeping all his plates spinning until he brings everything together for an exhilarating conclusion.

I won’t say any more about the story itself, since I don’t want to spoil elements from the other books. So instead I’ll give my assessment of the series as a whole. Staveley used to be a history teacher, so it’s no surprise that the world he’s created has a rich and fascinating history. The series is up there with George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series when it comes to complexity, but while there is familial conflict, it bears out more as a result of ignorance than out of subterfuge and deception. The battles are exhilarating, which include birds with 70-foot wingspans used by specially trained warriors. The characters are completely fleshed out and even though for most of the story the three siblings are at odds with one another, I found myself pulling for each one of them throughout.

Staveley is an author whose career I’m very excited for. I’m hoping there are many books to come. Whether they take place in the same world he created for this series or not, I’m sure I’m going to enjoy them.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

The Whistler

by John Grisham
374 pgs

I used to be a religious reader of John Grisham’s books. I used to buy them the day they were published and begin reading them immediately. Now, not so much. Before reading The Whistler, the last of his books I read was The Confession, and that was six years ago. It was when he started writing more non-legal thrillers that I started losing interest in his books, and eventually, even those began to lose some of their appeal to me. But because of books like A Time to Kill, The Firm, and The Chamber, I still pick his books up when they come out and at least read the dust jacket flaps to see what they’re about. With The Whistler, doing so paid off.

The story centers around Lacy Stoltz, an investigator for the Florida Board of Jucidicial Conduct. Basically, she investigates judges suspected of corruption. As the book begins, Lacy and her partner, Hugo Hatch, are contacted by a man claiming to have information about Claudia McDover, information that if true, would make her the most corrupt judge in the history of America.

The man is an ex-con who lives on his boat and is an intermediary to “the Whistler,” an anonymous whistle-blower close to the Judge who is aware of her corruption.

Lacy and Hugo begin investigating Judge McDover, but things quickly become deadly when the car they’re driving is intentionally hit head-on by a car that swerves into their lane. Hugo is killed and Lacy seriously is seriously injured. Lacy becomes even more determined after the accident to expose the judge and get justice for Hugo’s death and her investigation reveals the existence of a group of mobsters known as the “Coast Mafia.” That group has ingrained itself into the Tappacola indian tribe and has been skimming millions of dollars from the tribe’s casinos for years, and Judge McDover has been using her position on the bench to help them.

The Whistler reminded me of why I used to be such a big fan of Grisham’s books. Lacy is someone you quickly get behind and root for, there’s a clear sense of trying to right an injustice, and the story is hard to put down at times. It’ll keep me picking up his books for a while, and reading the flaps. Hopefully there will be more like it to come.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆