As someone who picked this series up knowing barely anything about the 'real' history, I may have been the only reader who didn't know what was coming at the end of this book...

So let's get the obvious out of the way first: there are some incredibly disturbing scenes in this book. The first two books certainly had some ugly moments, but I would seriously advise preparing yourself for worse before picking up book three.

Based on Manda Scott's historical note at the end of the book, it seems as though the most horrifying scenes in the book are actually the ones most firmly grounded in recorded history. I bring this up to make the point that Manda Scott is not cranking up the brutality gratuitously, or for pure shock value.

I actually think she is remarkably restrained when it comes to violence and gore - she describes only as much as she needs to in order to make an impact, then she moves away. The result of this is that the reader does not become overly desensitised to the violence and it remains shocking when it does occur.

You have been warned!

So, how does this book hold up against the previous two?

Incredibly well!

Everything that made the previous two installments so wonderful is also present in this book: the rich, vivid sensory details; the flawed but relatable characters; the tense, high-stakes dialogue. I could write a lot about all of these but I already did in my reviews for the previous two books and really it's just more of the same - but in the best possible way.

Those who were disappointed with Breaca/Boudica's lack of 'screentime' in the previous book will be reassured to hear that she gets the limelight back in this book. The flipside of this is that Ban/Valerius gets less time in the spotlight - which may disappoint some. I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more of him, but I also wouldn't want to cut down any of Breaca's chapters. I guess I'm just being greedy... These books are so good that I just want more of all of it...

Something I really liked about this installment was the way Breaca's relationship with her children was explored. In the previous book, I found myself getting frustrated with her at a couple of points for being cold to her children and for prioritising other people and things over them. In this book, we see the consequences of this and the work that Breaca has to do to repair these relationships. It's a wonderful acknowledgement that throwing yourself wholly into a cause, even a worthy one, is going to come at a cost.

Are there any negatives...?

Not for me (at least nothing major) but there are a couple of things that I think could put other people off:

As previously mentioned, there are some very disturbing events that take place in this book and this may be too much for some readers.

There are also significant 'supernatural' elements to this story - dreaming/gods/goddesses/ancestor spirits/ghosts etc. In book one, I feel like these elements were kept fairly ambiguous - e.g. were the dreamers really controlling the weather, or was the weather doing what it would have done anyway and it just coincided with what they were hoping for? In book two, I felt like it got less ambiguous but there was still 'plausible deniability' - e.g. it would have been a very strange coincidence that the man the dreamers were sending their magic against just happened to die by chance on the same night... but it could technically be possible...

By book three I feel like the 'plausible' bit of the deniability has gone... too many supernatural things are happening, to too many people, often with witnesses, to deny their reality. Manda Scott doesn't use it as too much of a deux ex machina, but there are a few instances where (being a little vague to avoid spoilers) a character knows where a thing is because a god/ancestor spirit told them where to find it, or a character chooses their course of action because of a vision or instruction from a supernatural entity.

If you're coming to this series from a background in fantasy (or you've been fine in the previous books with the idea of 'magic' influencing events) I think you'll be fine with this. If you don't like mixing the supernatural or speculative with historical fact, however, (and a lot of historical fiction doesn't) you may be starting to struggle a bit as I do feel like this stuff gets more prominent in book 3... again, as an avid fantasy reader, it's not something I see as a negative, but I see how it could put someone else off so thought it worth mentioning.

Overall though, a phenomenal book in a phenomenal series! Once again, huge thanks to the Brothers Gwynne for recommending this series and hosting the readalong!