The third book in The Forged And The Fallen series continues the plot along nicely, though it’s still not the final piece, despite what I expected. It does have some smaller issues that raised some questions for me.

In the first part, the story is mostly focused on Jaslin and Cyran. The siblings both found out some unpleasant things about the kingdom they live in, and their King, which led them to doubt many things. But as they did so individually, they have yet to share these doubts, and as both know of their loyalty, they’re both unsure about how the other might react to what they discovered.

So, for a good part of the first book, they continue their search for further clues and facts on their own, until they meet pretty much by chance and have the opportunity to talk about it.

When the inevitable happens, and they leave their kingdom behind to help Sirra deal with what’s coming from the Harrowed – undead elves slain centuries ago, now hungering for revenge – the plot focuses pretty much solely on this aspect and doesn’t give any insight to what is happening in their home kingdom, depite that it could be quite important (especially considering how much King Igare expected from Cyran).

The second issue I saw in the book – and series – is also related to Cyran’s departure. Before he leaves, he stops by to try to persuade some of the (still surviving) friends, with no success. This includes seeing his love interest – who is so rarely seen in the story, and he so rarely interacts with her that it feels quite meaningless, and her absence from the story so far wouldn’t make a difference. Their separation thus has a minimal emotional impact on the reader, given that there was no clear display of their feelings so far aside from one remark made in the early part of this book. And, to be honest, it doesn’t seem to bother Cyran as much, either. The writer in me wondered whether there was some other intent for Emellefer that was cut from the story.

Once they’re on the way, the story shows Cyran’s progress in his abilities – even though slow – and his changes in thinking, though it’s clear that some ideas are still a tough challenge for him. But time is getting short, and the two siblings along with Sirra and some of her loyal people, need to hurry to be ready to face the overwhelming numbers of the Harrowed.

Pravon and Aneen, the two dragon thieves, keep being a minor point of view, sometimes on their own, sometimes trailing Cyran, though they make quite an impact in the final battle of this book.

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Read date: 31.3.-11.4.2026
Published: 20.12.2024
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,62/4,7
My rating: 80%
Length: 548 pages
My highlights

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I’m rating the third book 10% lower than the second, especially because of how Cryan’s departure makes his love interest and friends seem meaningless, given that none seem open-minded enough to listen to their friend.