My goodness, the devastation that this book will wreak upon readers is intense. The Empirium trilogy has been such a marvellous work of fiction and I’ve followed the story of Rielle and Eliana from the moment I laid eyes on Furyborn. The worldbuilding in this trilogy is stunning, and the character development too. After the way Kingsbane ended, I wondered what would happen to both Rielle and Eliana, and the resolution of this story is unlike anything I had imagined, and I promise you that you won’t soon forget this story. There are several trigger warnings here, and the most prominent ones to be aware of if you’d like to read are: violence, murder, torture, coercion, and attempted suicide.
Before we begin this review, this is the final instalment of a trilogy. If you haven’t yet read Furyborn or Kingsbane, you’ll definitely want to read those before picking up Lightbringer. I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers, but some of them can’t be avoided since they’re relevant to the summary.
At the end of Kingsbane, Rielle turned her back on everything she held dear and turned toward Corien and his whispers of glory. However, the empirium voices are beginning to drive her mad, and pressuring her to open the gate. The longer she’s separated, the more she embraces the role of the Blood Queen and takes her place at Corien’s side in order to become the monster everyone believes her to be. In the future, Eliana has arrived in the Empire a husk of the person she was. Abandoned and betrayed, she struggles to keep her power at bay and away from Corien, who will do everything in his power to travel back to the past to get Rielle back…even if it destroys her daughter.
Reading that summary genuinely gave me chills. At the end of Kingsbane, I wondered how much more suffering Eliana and Rielle could go through. I was NOT PREPARED for what happened in Lightbringer. It also happened to have the most shifts between points of views withing the trilogy, and it worked so well. All the forces that are in play are all interacting, changing, and fighting to have control. I really loved Rielle and Eliana’s character progression. Rielle’s descent into madness has officially started, while Eliana is struggling to get out of the pit she’s in. Simon’s perspective was genuinely the most surprising, while Audric and Ludivine were so heartbreaking to read.
I won’t lie, there’s quite a lot to keep up with in the final instalment. What I will say is that I was waiting to see what Audric’s power was like and I was not disappointed. There’s quite a lot more vulnerability from him that I felt was missing, and I was glad to see it in this book. I loved quite a few of the characters, but here was one character that I continued to loathe despite his ability to captivate and entice…and that was Corien. His true colours came out once he had hold of Rielle, and I think readers will love the contrast between Corien and Audric.
While romance is certainly a major reason that a lot of things happen the way that they do, I didn’t feel that this one was as heavily centred on the development of romantic relationships as it was on repairing or breaking them completely. More importantly than this, the greater focus on family and friendship ultimately reframes this story into one of perseverance and eventually hope. Things did not end the way that I expected them to, and there was a lot of devastation left in the wake of what happens in the final battle.
There’s not a lot that I can talk about in this book without spoiling some of it. However, I will say that this is definitely a book you won’t want to miss. Claire Legrand has this way of exploring the mental health of her characters, and despite the fact that some are at the lowest point in their lives in this book, she does an incredible job of showing their personal growth. While the trilogy may end here, I look forward to what Legrand will write next. You definitely want this book on your TBR, especially for a truly epic fantasy read!
Lightbringer is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The incredible conclusion to the trilogy that started with the instant New York Times bestsellers Furyborn and Kingsbane!
In this epic finale to the Empirium Trilogy from New York Timesbestselling author Claire Legrand, two queens, separated by a thousand years must face their ultimate destinies.
Queen Rielle, pushed away from everything she loves, turns to Corien and his promises of glory. Meanwhile, whispers from the empirium slowly drive her mad, urging her to open the Gate. Separated from Audric and Ludivine, she embraces the role of Blood Queen and her place by Corien’s side, determined to become the monster the world believes her to be.
In the future, Eliana arrives in the Empire’s capital as a broken shell of herself. Betrayed and abandoned, she fights to keep her power at bay—and away from Corien, who will stop at nothing to travel back in time to Rielle, even if that means destroying her daughter.
But when the mysterious Prophet reveals themselves at last, everything changes, giving Rielle and Eliana a second chance for salvation—or the destruction their world has been dreading.
