Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland (book review)

GENRE: Adult Fantasy

LENGTH: 439 pages

PLOT

In the conclusion to the Broken Blades trilogy, the blades (Aeri, Royo, Mikhail, and Sora – plus Tiyung) are in possession of 3 of the 5 Dragon Lord relics. They seek out the final two in order to reclaim their lands and protect their peoples.

CHARACTERS

Given this is the final book in the trilogy, I’m sure I don’t need to reintroduce the characters to you. All of the blades (and Tiyung) as well as their questionable allies return. After all, characters of dubious loyalties are a staple of this series. The only exception, of course, is Euyn, as he died in the previous book. Though Euyn was never my favorite due to his misogynistic views, his absence was still keenly felt.

The protagonists in this story have always been morally gray, but in this book, they are true heroes. It’s been emotional watching them grow from reluctant allies willing to betray each other to a found family.

WRITING

The novel is told from the perspectives of the four remaining blades as well as Tiyung. The novel’s world is inspired by Korean myths/legends and culture – the author herself is a Korean American adoptee.

Something I wish more books would do is that the front of this book has a character guide, trigger warnings, and a recap of the events of the previous book. This is especially helpful for fantasy stories and in particular ones like this which have a lot of characters. I know not everyone wants to reread the prior book when the newest installment comes out as a refresher, so this will be very helpful to them.

The magic in this book feels even more epic than the previous installments. I fully anticipated this series being at least four books long. When I learned it was a trilogy, I was skeptical that Corland would be able to wrap everything up within 400 some pages. My fears did turn out to be somewhat founded. In my opinion, some characters’ fates were wrapped up almost too neatly while others were incomplete/open ended despite this being the finale.

FINAL THOUGHTS          

  This trilogy has become one of my favorite fantasy series to date. It has everything from well developed characters and relationships to fantasy politics, high stakes plots, and epic magic. In spite of being slightly disappointed by the rushed ending, I cannot recommend this trilogy enough! I will definitely pick up whatever Corland writes next.

FINAL RATING: 4.5⭐️