Synopsis

Years ago, the Elantian colonizers invaded Lan's (POV Character) homeland and killed her mother in their search to uncover the Last Kingdom's greatest the location of its legendary four Demon Gods. Lan's mother devoted her life to destroying the Demon Gods, and Lan is determined to finish her mission. Yet, there are others searching for the gods, too.

Zen (POV Character) knew his soul was forfeit the moment he made a deal with the Demon God known as the Black Tortoise, but he's willing to lose himself if it means saving the Kingdom—and the girl—he loves. But to crush the colonizers who have invaded his land he needs more power than even a single Demon God can provide. He needs an army. And he knows exactly where he can find it—in the undead army his great grandfather lead decades ago.

The Elantians may have stolen their throne, but the battle for the Last Kingdom has only begun.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads

Review

In this epic conclusion to the Song of the Last Kingdom duology, Zen and Lan are forced to make terrible and difficult decisions that accurately portray the despair of war. This novel put into focus the impossibility of retaining innocence in times of conflict, especially when the spread of power and governing authority has fallen severely out of balance. And I think that’s what Zhao does so beautifully in crafting this as a dual POV. Our two characters want the same outcome, but they take vastly different paths to that conclusion. And neither are wholly capable of defeating the Elantians and the remaining heir of the Imperial Court on their own.

Zen takes a path of darkness that necessitates bloodshed and the loss of his soul, but he does so to try and protect as many innocents as possible. He understands that he won’t survive the war because he cannot morally remain in the world with so much power attached to him, and thus he must sacrifice himself at the end. Lan, on the other hand, avoids her power for as long as she possibly can. She attempts to find a way to defeat Erascius and Hong’Yi through diplomatic means. But she can’t, because they would never give up their power. Instead, they would strip her of what she has and crush her underfoot, then continue to prey upon the innocent.

And therein lies the red threads of fate between our two characters: One must destroy the evil of the world—including the evil within himself—so that a new reign of peace and light can live on through the other. It’s horrifically stunning in its truth.

Those with power are not corrupted by it—they are themselves corrupt and use their power to take from those who are defenseless.

I was worried that Zhao would have evil stem from the Demon Gods—that the spin would be how humanity was good until powerful forces disrupted the balance. But she instead places humanity as the corruptors of the Gods, turning them into demons as they took on mortal characteristics like greed and pride and bloodlust.

Thus comes the search for finding this lost balance once more: “Yin and Yang. Good and evil. Great and terrible. Two sides of the same coin … and somewhere in the center of it all lies power” (235). As our main characters come to understand and embody this concept, they undergo immense personal growth. Lan realizes she must grab hold of her power so she can challenge corruption on behalf of innocents, and Zen realizes he must release his power once he has used it to destroy the enemy.

Although I felt the first installment of the duology, Song of Silver, Flame like Night, was better executed than the second, I was both pleased and moved by the resolution of this story. And I would love an anthology of shorts built around this world and these characters!

Truly, a stunning novel that I would recommend time and again.

Critiques

There were certainly framework and pacing issues in this novel.

Throughout the entirety of book one, and through a good chunk of book 2, Erascius and the colonizing Elantians are presented as the main antagonists. Though there are mentions of the past wrongdoings of the Imperial Court, these functioned, primarily, to demonstrate the weakening of the Hin community and offered an explanation as to how the Elantians were able to invade. This means the final battle, and most significant enemy to defeat, should have been Erascius (who both Lan and Zen fear most, and who has been most villainous in their lives during the course of this tale) and the Elantians. However, the entry of Hong’Yi midway through book 2 shifts the lens, and he defeats Erascius. (It felt like a Game of Thrones flashback, where the Night King was defeated by Arya out of nowhere, and somehow Cersei became the main big-bad despite the entire series opening with the mystery of the Night Walkers.) Hong’Yi somehow became the new big-bad, and he was the final villain faced by Lan and Zen.

I found the pacing to be off as well, and I believe this comes from the high amount of conflict, combined with the low amount of effort required to solve said conflict. A lot happens in this novel and our two protagonists do face significant obstacles. Unfortunately, these obstacles get resolved or waded through with little hesitation to the plot. Because of this, the pacing felt too quick while also being a little … convenient.

And finally, a HUGE pet peeve of mine—unneeded POVs. There is a single chapter from a new POV character, and while it may work for some readers, it completely pulled me out of the text. The chapter comes right at the end of the novel amidst the climactic scenes, and it jolted me from the story. I, personally, don’t feel the chapter was needed, as we could have received the information another way.

Content Note

There is a moment in the book where, after a private wedding ceremony between the two main characters, they have sex. There are no details regarding body parts, though it is not a fade to black. The content focuses on the character’s emotions and leans into metaphors. Due to the way this scene is written, I kept the rating at Light Intimacy. To read this scene for yourself, see Ch. 22, page 257.

There is an on-page POV character death. Though not graphic, it could be startling to some readers.

You can find more content warnings at the Trigger Warning Database.

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