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Magic of the Lost #3
The Sovereign
Luca is the new queen of Balladaire. Her empire is already splintering in her hands. Her uncle wasn’t the only traitor in the court, and the Withering will decimate her people if she can’t unearth Balladaire’s magic. The only person who can help her wants the only thing Luca won’t give—the end of the monarchy.
Touraine is Luca’s general. She has everything she ever wanted. While Luca looks within Balladaire’s borders, Touraine looks outward—the alliance with Qazal is brittle and Balladaire’s neighbors are ready to pounce on its new weakness. When the army comes, led by none other than Touraine’s old lover, Touraine must face the truth about herself—and the empire she once called home.
A storm is coming. Touraine and Luca will stand against it together, or it will tear them apart once and for all.
Touraine is Luca’s general. She has everything she ever wanted. While Luca looks within Balladaire’s borders, Touraine looks outward—the alliance with Qazal is brittle and Balladaire’s neighbors are ready to pounce on its new weakness. When the army comes, led by none other than Touraine’s old lover, Touraine must face the truth about herself—and the empire she once called home.
A storm is coming. Touraine and Luca will stand against it together, or it will tear them apart once and for all.
573 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2025
158 people are currently reading
6264 people want to read
About the author
C.L. Clark
23 books2,207 followersC. L. Clark is a BFA award-winning editor and Ignyte award-winning author of several books, including The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost trilogy), Fate's Bane (a novella), and Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf (an Arcane novel). When she’s not writing, she’s trying not to throw her kettlebells through the wall. Her work has appeared in various SFF venues, including Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Tor.com, Uncanny, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Sign up to her newsletter for updates and bonus materials.
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April 24, 2025Editing now to add that you can read the first chapter at my website:
https://clclarkwrites.com/2025/03/31/...
This book brought to you by the letter "D" and the song "Renaissance" from the Medici soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oJ...
For a sneak preview of the first chapter in broadside form, go to my newsletter:
https://clclark.substack.com/p/march-...
https://clclarkwrites.com/2025/03/31/...
This book brought to you by the letter "D" and the song "Renaissance" from the Medici soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oJ...
For a sneak preview of the first chapter in broadside form, go to my newsletter:
https://clclark.substack.com/p/march-...
March 15, 2023
Luca AND Touraine better be on this cover or I'll cry
October 23, 2025
This was a bittersweet ending for sure, but I couldn’t be more satisfied with how Clark wrapped everything up. This is an amazing political fantasy trilogy that I hope more people pick up!
October 2, 2025
It's out now!!! Go read it!!
You know when you read a book and you can just tell that the author is incredibly and undeniably cool? This is that book. The dialogue is so fantastic and incredibly realistic. This series has WRECKED me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you haven’t read this series and you’re a fan of sapphic political fantasy, you’re absolutely missing out. I thought this was a great conclusion to a fantastic series--- even if I wasn't totally happy with the ending, it felt realistic. I still am not a fan of Luca, but she is a *somewhat* understandable character.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
You know when you read a book and you can just tell that the author is incredibly and undeniably cool? This is that book. The dialogue is so fantastic and incredibly realistic. This series has WRECKED me and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you haven’t read this series and you’re a fan of sapphic political fantasy, you’re absolutely missing out. I thought this was a great conclusion to a fantastic series--- even if I wasn't totally happy with the ending, it felt realistic. I still am not a fan of Luca, but she is a *somewhat* understandable character.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 13, 2025
Solid 4.25 stars.
As one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, The Sovereign was a fantastic conclusion to a beloved series of mine.
While I think the first 40% dragged a little, everything that happened was essential to the story.
Clark didn't pull punches and I appreciate her for it, even if I also hate her a little.
Thank you, Edelweiss and Orbit, for the ARC.
As one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, The Sovereign was a fantastic conclusion to a beloved series of mine.
While I think the first 40% dragged a little, everything that happened was essential to the story.
Clark didn't pull punches and I appreciate her for it, even if I also hate her a little.
Thank you, Edelweiss and Orbit, for the ARC.
August 18, 2025
One of the most satisfying finales to a trilogy I have read.
The character arcs from book one to here was spectacular. My complaint in both the first books were about my disappointment about consistent development compared to my expectations from other reviews. This book brought it together in a spectacularly brutal finish.
Touraine didn’t need to break herself to fit, ignoring the ways it cut into her flesh. She was changing it, not by erasing herself but by staying, by making them reckon with her presence. With what it said of their shared history and what shapes their shared future could take.
This book was a three stars like the other two for me, until after the 70% which then brought all these moments and realisations together in a beautiful, devastating way.
Every single character in this series wants to prove something. This dictates their own ambitions. Every single one realises they are a pawn and a player and a master.
Even Pruett, who I have said I disliked following her pov, had such a compelling arc. Pruett could have easily been the hero of this series in another narrative.
”Even ticks can be burned out.”
He smiled knowingly. “A tick can burrow so deep within a deer that it never comes out.”
“Aye, true enough. But the ticks that bury themselves so deep? They die there. The deer may die. It may not.”
We get a threesome for the ages (one of my complaints was the sudden horniness and steaminess compared to previous instalments, but I think this was a personal ‘Oh’ rather than anything else).
Oh, and we can’t forget the cannibalism.
Physical arc gifted by Orbit.
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The character arcs from book one to here was spectacular. My complaint in both the first books were about my disappointment about consistent development compared to my expectations from other reviews. This book brought it together in a spectacularly brutal finish.
Touraine didn’t need to break herself to fit, ignoring the ways it cut into her flesh. She was changing it, not by erasing herself but by staying, by making them reckon with her presence. With what it said of their shared history and what shapes their shared future could take.
This book was a three stars like the other two for me, until after the 70% which then brought all these moments and realisations together in a beautiful, devastating way.
Every single character in this series wants to prove something. This dictates their own ambitions. Every single one realises they are a pawn and a player and a master.
Even Pruett, who I have said I disliked following her pov, had such a compelling arc. Pruett could have easily been the hero of this series in another narrative.
”Even ticks can be burned out.”
He smiled knowingly. “A tick can burrow so deep within a deer that it never comes out.”
“Aye, true enough. But the ticks that bury themselves so deep? They die there. The deer may die. It may not.”
We get a threesome for the ages (one of my complaints was the sudden horniness and steaminess compared to previous instalments, but I think this was a personal ‘Oh’ rather than anything else).
Oh, and we can’t forget the cannibalism.
Physical arc gifted by Orbit.
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November 11, 2025
i am unwell.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 15, 2025
Four stars solely for the last 25%.
The first 75% of this book just dragged. It felt disconnected, with scene upon scene upon scene and sex scenes tossed in for flair and just no...I dunno. No feeling?
But once the final battle is finally joined, it got a lot better.
Anywho, while I loved the first two books, this was more of a meh for me, and I don't know if it's my oncoming bookish slump or if I just spent way too long between reading the previous installations. Either way, I just never really locked in on this one.
However, I still love this trilogy for everything it is, even if this last book didn't really work for me.
I received an ARC from the publisher
The first 75% of this book just dragged. It felt disconnected, with scene upon scene upon scene and sex scenes tossed in for flair and just no...I dunno. No feeling?
But once the final battle is finally joined, it got a lot better.
Anywho, while I loved the first two books, this was more of a meh for me, and I don't know if it's my oncoming bookish slump or if I just spent way too long between reading the previous installations. Either way, I just never really locked in on this one.
However, I still love this trilogy for everything it is, even if this last book didn't really work for me.
I received an ARC from the publisher
December 14, 2025
3.5 rounded up because I definitely think this is the best of the trilogy however it is also the most ambitious and perhaps in some ways it attempted to do too much.
I liked the pacing of this book and the way it covered so much more time and events than the previous instalments as well as additional character work it did for many of the characters, but as I said in some ways I do think it was doing too much and so not all storylines were executed with as much scrutiny as they should.
The whole storyline with the Fingers, an anti-monarchy movement and organisation was in my opinion the absolute weakest part of this whole story. There is so much about them that is unclear and confusing, their behaviour and efforts often don’t actually make sense and we are never actually told what it is that they’re fighting for or why other than vague statements of monarchy is bad. And please don’t get me wrong, I am STRONGLY against monarchy government irl so trust and believe you don’t have to convince me on that front but what I’m trying to say is that within the context of this world and this story, we NEVER learn what it is that they actually take issue with when it comes to the empire’s policies. They also for some reason see Luca personally as a source of all their issues even though Luca JUST took the throne and yet they have nothing ever to say about her uncle who’s been the king in reigning all these years. She’s literally been in a ruling position for five minutes but they’re acting like she’s been ruling the country for a century. They’re also unbothered about war at their doorstep apparently??? It simply doesn’t add up and this lack of attention to detail when it came to their plot line just really bothered me personally not to mention that Fili is SUCH a frustrating character I really couldn’t stand her.
Also you get much more chapters from Pruett’s POV in this book and I’d argue in many ways she’s actually the best written character in this entire series. I really enjoyed following her more substantially in this instalment. Unfortunately though, the conclusion of her storyline comes very abruptly and not in an entirely satisfying manner. It feels almost unfinished I’d say.
Overall I’m not sure if I’m fan of the ending in general but it’s serviceable I suppose. I enjoyed myself when reading this series and I did find the characters and the story largely compelling. I’ll be looking forward to reading other works by this author
I liked the pacing of this book and the way it covered so much more time and events than the previous instalments as well as additional character work it did for many of the characters, but as I said in some ways I do think it was doing too much and so not all storylines were executed with as much scrutiny as they should.
The whole storyline with the Fingers, an anti-monarchy movement and organisation was in my opinion the absolute weakest part of this whole story. There is so much about them that is unclear and confusing, their behaviour and efforts often don’t actually make sense and we are never actually told what it is that they’re fighting for or why other than vague statements of monarchy is bad. And please don’t get me wrong, I am STRONGLY against monarchy government irl so trust and believe you don’t have to convince me on that front but what I’m trying to say is that within the context of this world and this story, we NEVER learn what it is that they actually take issue with when it comes to the empire’s policies. They also for some reason see Luca personally as a source of all their issues even though Luca JUST took the throne and yet they have nothing ever to say about her uncle who’s been the king in reigning all these years. She’s literally been in a ruling position for five minutes but they’re acting like she’s been ruling the country for a century. They’re also unbothered about war at their doorstep apparently??? It simply doesn’t add up and this lack of attention to detail when it came to their plot line just really bothered me personally not to mention that Fili is SUCH a frustrating character I really couldn’t stand her.
Also you get much more chapters from Pruett’s POV in this book and I’d argue in many ways she’s actually the best written character in this entire series. I really enjoyed following her more substantially in this instalment. Unfortunately though, the conclusion of her storyline comes very abruptly and not in an entirely satisfying manner. It feels almost unfinished I’d say.
Overall I’m not sure if I’m fan of the ending in general but it’s serviceable I suppose. I enjoyed myself when reading this series and I did find the characters and the story largely compelling. I’ll be looking forward to reading other works by this author
August 9, 2025
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Going to skip writing a blurb for this one since it contains spoilers for the other books in the series and you should def read them!! 👀
First, I'll start by saying that this cover is absolutely gorgeous and everything I wanted to see for the third installment. I also think it was well-chosen, without being too spoilery.
Now, unfortunately, I do have some mixed feelings about this one. It is most definitely my least favorite entry in the series, and I really struggled to stay focused throughout. After being enamored with the first book (truly stunning from beginning to end!) and feeling a bit let down but still very fond of the second one (incredible!), The Sovereign felt like a departure from what made this series work for me initially.
The pacing felt wildly uneven. The first 25% focused heavily on romance (which, while important, did not work for me-), and much of the middle section felt empty. I feel it was missing some of the sense of adventure and cultural richness that made the first book so captivating in Qazāl, spending too long in the familiar territory of Balladaire like book 2 did. The sharp political maneuvering and strategic planning that kept me on the edge of my seat in earlier installments took more of a backseat here. I also felt like several characters seemed to walk back their personal growth by cycling through similar emotional beats over and over, particularly with Luca and Touraine's relationship dynamic. Their relationship development could have benefited from more focus and exploration along different paths:
The scope of the trilogy might have been a bit too ambitious to realize fully. Characters would just vanish for chapters at a time, some potentially compelling elements (like the Fingers revolutionaries) felt underutilized despite their potential, and the magic system that had been carefully built up over three books didn't get the major pay-off I was hoping for. Where the previous installments had a really sharp pacing that threw readers from one moment of tension to the next, this book occasionally felt more self-indulgent, sometimes dwelling longer on certain scenes or plot points than felt necessary.
That said, the ending was genuinely satisfying, and I'm grateful that all the plot threads were addressed. Even when resolutions weren't exactly what I’d hoped for, or didn’t get as much development time as I would have liked, everything was thoughtfully concluded. The political elements strengthened considerably in the final third, delivering several emotionally resonant scenes that will definitely stick with me. The character work also remained excellent: Pruett, Luca, and Touraine are all complex characters that just feel authentic.
I'm a bit torn on my final rating since I did spend much of the book feeling frustrated, but the strong finale and overall cohesiveness with the rest of the series ultimately redeem it for me. It delivers a well-rounded and mostly satisfying conclusion to characters and a world I've grown to love deeply. I'm genuinely grateful I got to read this book early!
And as feedback for the whole series: please, for the love of any deity you worship, PLEASE consider adding a dramatis personae and/or glossary to future fantasy novels! I'm thankful for the map, but keeping track of all the characters can be such a headache. Reading is my favorite hobby, I shouldn't need to take notes to fully enjoy it 😭
Going to skip writing a blurb for this one since it contains spoilers for the other books in the series and you should def read them!! 👀
First, I'll start by saying that this cover is absolutely gorgeous and everything I wanted to see for the third installment. I also think it was well-chosen, without being too spoilery.
Now, unfortunately, I do have some mixed feelings about this one. It is most definitely my least favorite entry in the series, and I really struggled to stay focused throughout. After being enamored with the first book (truly stunning from beginning to end!) and feeling a bit let down but still very fond of the second one (incredible!), The Sovereign felt like a departure from what made this series work for me initially.
The pacing felt wildly uneven. The first 25% focused heavily on romance (which, while important, did not work for me-), and much of the middle section felt empty. I feel it was missing some of the sense of adventure and cultural richness that made the first book so captivating in Qazāl, spending too long in the familiar territory of Balladaire like book 2 did. The sharp political maneuvering and strategic planning that kept me on the edge of my seat in earlier installments took more of a backseat here. I also felt like several characters seemed to walk back their personal growth by cycling through similar emotional beats over and over, particularly with Luca and Touraine's relationship dynamic. Their relationship development could have benefited from more focus and exploration along different paths:
The scope of the trilogy might have been a bit too ambitious to realize fully. Characters would just vanish for chapters at a time, some potentially compelling elements (like the Fingers revolutionaries) felt underutilized despite their potential, and the magic system that had been carefully built up over three books didn't get the major pay-off I was hoping for. Where the previous installments had a really sharp pacing that threw readers from one moment of tension to the next, this book occasionally felt more self-indulgent, sometimes dwelling longer on certain scenes or plot points than felt necessary.
That said, the ending was genuinely satisfying, and I'm grateful that all the plot threads were addressed. Even when resolutions weren't exactly what I’d hoped for, or didn’t get as much development time as I would have liked, everything was thoughtfully concluded. The political elements strengthened considerably in the final third, delivering several emotionally resonant scenes that will definitely stick with me. The character work also remained excellent: Pruett, Luca, and Touraine are all complex characters that just feel authentic.
I'm a bit torn on my final rating since I did spend much of the book feeling frustrated, but the strong finale and overall cohesiveness with the rest of the series ultimately redeem it for me. It delivers a well-rounded and mostly satisfying conclusion to characters and a world I've grown to love deeply. I'm genuinely grateful I got to read this book early!
And as feedback for the whole series: please, for the love of any deity you worship, PLEASE consider adding a dramatis personae and/or glossary to future fantasy novels! I'm thankful for the map, but keeping track of all the characters can be such a headache. Reading is my favorite hobby, I shouldn't need to take notes to fully enjoy it 😭
November 10, 2025
I’m good I’m so good everyone’s fine and I am too?
August 17, 2025
Okay so I actually finished this a couple days ago but I was hemming and hawing over whether or not I should write my whole review now before the book comes out because as the finale of a trilogy, there isn't much to say without everything being a massive spoiler. I've decided to bullet point my least-spoilery thoughts below and come back with more details at the end of September (cause I'm calling it right now, I'll probably do a re-read and attend all of C.L. Clark's London events lol).
1. The first 150 pages of this feels like someone slipped up and accidentally attached Luca/Tourraine/Sabine fanfiction to the front cover. It actively made me chuckle every time someone threw a snowball but I would be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed every bit of it. Be warned: this is very much the calm before the storm, a soothing breathful of lavender-scented air before your sh*t hits the fan, the sexy times in the tent amid the screams of the dying, if you will. giggle with caution.
2. If this series has a theme it is this: horny self-righteous lesbians cannot be trusted to lead nations. There's a lot of brawn > braincells in this book and people's hearts are getting them into 10 tons of trouble. Ever been bitter? Ever been so mad that your ex married a queen that you lead an army to take over her plague ridden nation? (talk about kicking a gal while she's down, geez). Basically, loyalty lines are smudged as all heck for all 500 pages and it was nearly impossible to trust that anyone could or should trust anyone else. In other words, expect a lot of facepalming and heartburn.
3. The last 200 pages of this book are absolute chaos. I thiiiinnnkkkkk? I liked it... I was yelling out ? Wait... what? and flipping back through chapters to see if I missed stuff so clearly, I cared. Also, Clark did one of the things that I hate but I can't say anymore about it or I'll give something kinda big away. Overall, I think we coulda skipped that part but I will say, the shock value factor of the scene (you'll know it when you get to it) did make me pause and go "shit. they went there." more than once.
4. This series is an ethical clusterf*ck. None of these characters should really have any right to be making any of the self-destructive, borderline evil, imperially-minded decisions that they're making. All that being said, the assumption of empire is challenged!!!! There's even a cheeky political curveball in the final hours that made me go, good! and I'm glad that the end did what it did.
Anywho, that's all I can say for now at risk of spilling beans that are better left to your own roasting.
SOOOOOO glad i got to read this early, I truly can't believe my dumb luck. To everyone who listened to my rambly, high volume voice memos the day this popped up on my kindle, thank you for your service.
1. The first 150 pages of this feels like someone slipped up and accidentally attached Luca/Tourraine/Sabine fanfiction to the front cover. It actively made me chuckle every time someone threw a snowball but I would be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed every bit of it. Be warned: this is very much the calm before the storm, a soothing breathful of lavender-scented air before your sh*t hits the fan, the sexy times in the tent amid the screams of the dying, if you will. giggle with caution.
2. If this series has a theme it is this: horny self-righteous lesbians cannot be trusted to lead nations. There's a lot of brawn > braincells in this book and people's hearts are getting them into 10 tons of trouble. Ever been bitter? Ever been so mad that your ex married a queen that you lead an army to take over her plague ridden nation? (talk about kicking a gal while she's down, geez). Basically, loyalty lines are smudged as all heck for all 500 pages and it was nearly impossible to trust that anyone could or should trust anyone else. In other words, expect a lot of facepalming and heartburn.
3. The last 200 pages of this book are absolute chaos. I thiiiinnnkkkkk? I liked it... I was yelling out ? Wait... what? and flipping back through chapters to see if I missed stuff so clearly, I cared. Also, Clark did one of the things that I hate but I can't say anymore about it or I'll give something kinda big away. Overall, I think we coulda skipped that part but I will say, the shock value factor of the scene (you'll know it when you get to it) did make me pause and go "shit. they went there." more than once.
4. This series is an ethical clusterf*ck. None of these characters should really have any right to be making any of the self-destructive, borderline evil, imperially-minded decisions that they're making. All that being said, the assumption of empire is challenged!!!! There's even a cheeky political curveball in the final hours that made me go, good! and I'm glad that the end did what it did.
Anywho, that's all I can say for now at risk of spilling beans that are better left to your own roasting.
SOOOOOO glad i got to read this early, I truly can't believe my dumb luck. To everyone who listened to my rambly, high volume voice memos the day this popped up on my kindle, thank you for your service.
October 15, 2025
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to review this…
I’m both full of emotions whilst also feeling so numb.
Five phat stars for my morally grey lesbians with swords and their stupid fucking decisions and their soft hearts and their silly schemes and all the shit they put me through.
BE THE RAIN.
I’m both full of emotions whilst also feeling so numb.
Five phat stars for my morally grey lesbians with swords and their stupid fucking decisions and their soft hearts and their silly schemes and all the shit they put me through.
BE THE RAIN.
September 16, 2025
C.L. Clark when I catch you C.L Clark...
What a way to finish this trilogy!
The Magic of the Lost series is easily one of my favourite sapphic fantasy series, so I was really, really happy when I received the ARC.
This plot picks up where The Faithless ended, and we can find ourselves in the middle of some surprisingly idyllic times, at least compared to everything else this series has thrown at us. But even the characters know this peace cannot (and will not) last forever. So I was expecting the worst right at the beginning of the book.
We follow the characters through their incredible journeys and impossible decisions, through politics, plague, war, rebellion, betrayal, love and loss. And hope. We get to explore these incredibly layered characters even more. Are they good people? Are they bad people?The answer is both, often at the same time. They are deliciously flawed, with awful decisions and lots of trauma behind them. They want to do good, but they are scarred and scared at the same time.
This book (or well, the whole series) doesn't give its characters a moment of rest (nor to its readers). Not gonna lie, I had to put the book down a couple of times just to breathe. And yet, I had to force myself to read it more slowly, just to savour it a little longer.
The Sovereign is full of twists, betrayals (are we surprised at this point?), brutal fight scenes, and a lot of sacrifice. The emotional stakes are higher than ever, with characters pushed to their absolute limits. By the final chapters, you're left breathless, questioning who will make it out and what it will cost them.
I will miss this series a lot (though I will definitely re-read it in the future) but I'm so happy we've got a satisfying and surprisingly hopeful end.
Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.
What a way to finish this trilogy!
The Magic of the Lost series is easily one of my favourite sapphic fantasy series, so I was really, really happy when I received the ARC.
This plot picks up where The Faithless ended, and we can find ourselves in the middle of some surprisingly idyllic times, at least compared to everything else this series has thrown at us. But even the characters know this peace cannot (and will not) last forever. So I was expecting the worst right at the beginning of the book.
We follow the characters through their incredible journeys and impossible decisions, through politics, plague, war, rebellion, betrayal, love and loss. And hope. We get to explore these incredibly layered characters even more. Are they good people? Are they bad people?The answer is both, often at the same time. They are deliciously flawed, with awful decisions and lots of trauma behind them. They want to do good, but they are scarred and scared at the same time.
This book (or well, the whole series) doesn't give its characters a moment of rest (nor to its readers). Not gonna lie, I had to put the book down a couple of times just to breathe. And yet, I had to force myself to read it more slowly, just to savour it a little longer.
The Sovereign is full of twists, betrayals (are we surprised at this point?), brutal fight scenes, and a lot of sacrifice. The emotional stakes are higher than ever, with characters pushed to their absolute limits. By the final chapters, you're left breathless, questioning who will make it out and what it will cost them.
I will miss this series a lot (though I will definitely re-read it in the future) but I'm so happy we've got a satisfying and surprisingly hopeful end.
Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.
Want to read
May 3, 2025We're so back, it's so over, we're so back, it's so over--
October 5, 2025
Um, OK. Wow. Rude. Seriously, it’s so inconsiderate of C.L. Clark to just go and write a gut-punch of a concluding volume to this incredible trilogy. This is one of my favourite modern epic fantasy series, and if you haven’t picked up
The Unbroken
or
The Faithless
yet, then run, don’t walk to your nearest indie bookshop or library because wow. I’m giving this book five stars and actually retroactively want to go back and give the others five stars (and maybe I will) because I don’t know if I’m going to adequately be able to express how much I loved this trilogy. I received an eARC from NetGalley/Orbit, but I would have read and hyped this up anyhow.
As usual, spoilers for the first two books but not this one.
The Sovereign picks up right after the end of The Faithless. Balladaire is facing another war as one of Touraine’s former Sands comrades invades with another country’s army. Touraine might be able to stop her, except that stopping her looks curiously like betraying Luca. Meanwhile, Luca has finally wrested her crown from her treacherous uncle—and with it, all the problems the Crown is responsible for solving. Facing the worst bout of the Withering in generations and an incipient uprising from the peasants, Luca is beset on all sides. Can she trust Touraine? Can the two of them find a way to square the circle and make peace? Or is war, destruction, and loss all they will ever know?
Not going to lie, for the first part of this book I was slightly let down. It felt like a painful recapitulation of the first two books, mostly in the sense that Luca and Touraine only seem to have two modes: tearing off each other’s clothes or tearing strips off one another, with zero chill in between. I was so tired of watching their recriminations. This is a part of romance and romantic relationships I don’t get (though, to be fair, they both have plenty of reasons to be upset with each other!). I really struggle understanding why two people who have hurt each other so much still feel a mutual attraction and still want to be together. Y’all allos are messy.
Anyway, thankfully, the story heats up almost as quickly as the sexytimes. Since this is the last book, Clark doesn’t pull any punches: people die. I won’t say who! But it’s heartbreaking and worth it. There’s so much payoff in this book.
Luca and Touraine are, of course, the beating heart of this series. Beyond their romance, each is an interesting case study in their own right. Luca has a history of making bad decisions in a panic, and that’s no exception in this book. What’s different here, I think, is the way she finds herself hardening as a ruler. There’s an incident early on that hints at the shape of this, but it really isn’t until the climax, where she finally puts to rest a lingering threat that has been lurking in the background, that you realize how far she has fallen from the idealist we met at the start of The Faithless. There is a desperate edge to her that makes her all the more interesting. Similarly, Touraine laments that her assignment always seems to be the same: betrayal. Yet she embraces it, is good at it. Ultimately, the only way out for her is to stop playing other people’s games and decide what she wants.
The entire Magic of the Lost trilogy has been a commentary on the colonial nature of epic fantasy. We read stories set in these medieval (or in this case, “early modern”) worlds modelled loosely after the internecine Westphalian states of Europe, and we’re supposed to cheer for one side or another even though, let’s face it, historically monarchs have generally been huge jerks at the very least and genocidal at the worst. Clark isn’t the first to want to play with this concept and critique it, of course, but she does it so well.
With Luca on the throne at the start of this book, Clark has a quandary. We’re supposed to sympathize with Luca and want her to succeed, but if success looks like Queen Luca saving Balladaire and ruling it wisely … OK that won’t happen because she’s really bad at governing and decisions in general, lol. I have never met two people more incompetent at their roles than Luca and Touraine, and that is what makes them perfect for each other, I guess. Luca is about as good at being a hero as Barry Allen in The CW Flash (fuck Barry Allen). Still, the point stands—how can this series fully inhabit is promise of a postcolonial fantasy story if the monarch wins out over the revolutionaries?
No spoilers. All I’ll say is that Clark pulls it off. I loved this ending. It’s bittersweet and humbling and powerful; it hits all the right notes. Clark acknowledges that governing is tough (which is partly why Luca sucks at it), and there’s no promising that Balladaire will continue on forever the way it is after the end of this book. All she can offer us is the hope inherent in a new direction, and the possibility for change for the better.
I gotta say, reading this against the backdrop of the rising fascism in the US was a tonic in more ways than one….
The Sovereign is such a beautiful mess in the best possible way. If you’re reading this review because you haven’t read this series, I urge you to go back and read my review of the first book. If you’re here because you want to know whether Book 3 sticks the landing, the answer is an unequivocal yes, a thousand times yes. It’s bloody and sad and refuses to wrap everything up in a happily ever after … but it is satisfying in that dissatisfaction. This is some of the smartest and most thought-provoking fantasy I have read in years.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
As usual, spoilers for the first two books but not this one.
The Sovereign picks up right after the end of The Faithless. Balladaire is facing another war as one of Touraine’s former Sands comrades invades with another country’s army. Touraine might be able to stop her, except that stopping her looks curiously like betraying Luca. Meanwhile, Luca has finally wrested her crown from her treacherous uncle—and with it, all the problems the Crown is responsible for solving. Facing the worst bout of the Withering in generations and an incipient uprising from the peasants, Luca is beset on all sides. Can she trust Touraine? Can the two of them find a way to square the circle and make peace? Or is war, destruction, and loss all they will ever know?
Not going to lie, for the first part of this book I was slightly let down. It felt like a painful recapitulation of the first two books, mostly in the sense that Luca and Touraine only seem to have two modes: tearing off each other’s clothes or tearing strips off one another, with zero chill in between. I was so tired of watching their recriminations. This is a part of romance and romantic relationships I don’t get (though, to be fair, they both have plenty of reasons to be upset with each other!). I really struggle understanding why two people who have hurt each other so much still feel a mutual attraction and still want to be together. Y’all allos are messy.
Anyway, thankfully, the story heats up almost as quickly as the sexytimes. Since this is the last book, Clark doesn’t pull any punches: people die. I won’t say who! But it’s heartbreaking and worth it. There’s so much payoff in this book.
Luca and Touraine are, of course, the beating heart of this series. Beyond their romance, each is an interesting case study in their own right. Luca has a history of making bad decisions in a panic, and that’s no exception in this book. What’s different here, I think, is the way she finds herself hardening as a ruler. There’s an incident early on that hints at the shape of this, but it really isn’t until the climax, where she finally puts to rest a lingering threat that has been lurking in the background, that you realize how far she has fallen from the idealist we met at the start of The Faithless. There is a desperate edge to her that makes her all the more interesting. Similarly, Touraine laments that her assignment always seems to be the same: betrayal. Yet she embraces it, is good at it. Ultimately, the only way out for her is to stop playing other people’s games and decide what she wants.
The entire Magic of the Lost trilogy has been a commentary on the colonial nature of epic fantasy. We read stories set in these medieval (or in this case, “early modern”) worlds modelled loosely after the internecine Westphalian states of Europe, and we’re supposed to cheer for one side or another even though, let’s face it, historically monarchs have generally been huge jerks at the very least and genocidal at the worst. Clark isn’t the first to want to play with this concept and critique it, of course, but she does it so well.
With Luca on the throne at the start of this book, Clark has a quandary. We’re supposed to sympathize with Luca and want her to succeed, but if success looks like Queen Luca saving Balladaire and ruling it wisely … OK that won’t happen because she’s really bad at governing and decisions in general, lol. I have never met two people more incompetent at their roles than Luca and Touraine, and that is what makes them perfect for each other, I guess. Luca is about as good at being a hero as Barry Allen in The CW Flash (fuck Barry Allen). Still, the point stands—how can this series fully inhabit is promise of a postcolonial fantasy story if the monarch wins out over the revolutionaries?
No spoilers. All I’ll say is that Clark pulls it off. I loved this ending. It’s bittersweet and humbling and powerful; it hits all the right notes. Clark acknowledges that governing is tough (which is partly why Luca sucks at it), and there’s no promising that Balladaire will continue on forever the way it is after the end of this book. All she can offer us is the hope inherent in a new direction, and the possibility for change for the better.
I gotta say, reading this against the backdrop of the rising fascism in the US was a tonic in more ways than one….
The Sovereign is such a beautiful mess in the best possible way. If you’re reading this review because you haven’t read this series, I urge you to go back and read my review of the first book. If you’re here because you want to know whether Book 3 sticks the landing, the answer is an unequivocal yes, a thousand times yes. It’s bloody and sad and refuses to wrap everything up in a happily ever after … but it is satisfying in that dissatisfaction. This is some of the smartest and most thought-provoking fantasy I have read in years.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
November 25, 2025
Clark absolutely sticks the landing on the Magic of the Lost trilogy, giving us the ending we may not entirely want, but it's the ending that maybe we need. Please read this series if you want morally complex political fantasy starring powerful sapphic women!!
This final book of the trilogy can be summed up by saying that pretty much everyone finally has what they want (although, at what cost??) - but they're about to find out if it's really what they want after all. Luca is in control of Balladaire and Touraine is at her side. Unfortunately the country is beset by civil unrest, a plague, and an impending invasion by former colonists - led by Touraine's ex Pruett - and longtime expansion-minded neighbors, the Taargens.
Luca is desperate to hold onto her power and solve all the country's crises, which she thinks may lie in rediscovering the earth magic that Balladaire used to have - and that Fili, one of the leaders of the rebel group, is the only person so far to demonstrate. As Luca makes her leadership choices, her and Touraine grow ever more distant, even with Sabine by both their sides bringing them back together. In one final gambit, Luca and Touraine plot a "deep cover" operation that might prevent a war - but only if they trust each other all the way to the end of it.
DAMN! The problems just do NOT let UP in this book! Yes, Clark allows for some sweet (and sexy) scenes towards the beginning of the book but enjoy them because again, all the characters are going THROUGH IT in this one! Lots of emotional and physical pain - Clark is not afraid to hurt her characters, in either category!
What makes this series stand out is that nearly every character does something ugly, something morally compromised, including very much the leads. Also, their plans do not always - or even often - work out. Clark is also not afraid to have "the good guys" fail. This makes the experience of reading the book quite tense! Because the stakes feel super real!!
Ultimately, I think this book is addressing the question, from a bunch of angles, of just how far you would go to support someone you love - even if you also kinda hate them. All the characters have to make heart-rending choices in this regard, but because we've been with them for this whole story, their choices make sense in the end.
So is it a happy end? Well... yeah, mostly? It depends on what makes you happy? This book deserves a discussion group, because there are debatable answers to that question whether you're considering colonial and monarchy-based politics, or the lengths to which it's acceptable to hurt the ones you love. But I'll say this much: the ending felt satisfying. It felt right in a way I can't fully put into words yet.
I think I'm going to have to go back and give each of the books in this trilogy five stars, because they're each just so consistently good, and definitely worthy of a reread.
This final book of the trilogy can be summed up by saying that pretty much everyone finally has what they want (although, at what cost??) - but they're about to find out if it's really what they want after all. Luca is in control of Balladaire and Touraine is at her side. Unfortunately the country is beset by civil unrest, a plague, and an impending invasion by former colonists - led by Touraine's ex Pruett - and longtime expansion-minded neighbors, the Taargens.
Luca is desperate to hold onto her power and solve all the country's crises, which she thinks may lie in rediscovering the earth magic that Balladaire used to have - and that Fili, one of the leaders of the rebel group, is the only person so far to demonstrate. As Luca makes her leadership choices, her and Touraine grow ever more distant, even with Sabine by both their sides bringing them back together. In one final gambit, Luca and Touraine plot a "deep cover" operation that might prevent a war - but only if they trust each other all the way to the end of it.
DAMN! The problems just do NOT let UP in this book! Yes, Clark allows for some sweet (and sexy) scenes towards the beginning of the book but enjoy them because again, all the characters are going THROUGH IT in this one! Lots of emotional and physical pain - Clark is not afraid to hurt her characters, in either category!
What makes this series stand out is that nearly every character does something ugly, something morally compromised, including very much the leads. Also, their plans do not always - or even often - work out. Clark is also not afraid to have "the good guys" fail. This makes the experience of reading the book quite tense! Because the stakes feel super real!!
Ultimately, I think this book is addressing the question, from a bunch of angles, of just how far you would go to support someone you love - even if you also kinda hate them. All the characters have to make heart-rending choices in this regard, but because we've been with them for this whole story, their choices make sense in the end.
So is it a happy end? Well... yeah, mostly? It depends on what makes you happy? This book deserves a discussion group, because there are debatable answers to that question whether you're considering colonial and monarchy-based politics, or the lengths to which it's acceptable to hurt the ones you love. But I'll say this much: the ending felt satisfying. It felt right in a way I can't fully put into words yet.
I think I'm going to have to go back and give each of the books in this trilogy five stars, because they're each just so consistently good, and definitely worthy of a reread.
July 29, 2025
Let me say this… I still dislike Luca! That lady rubbed me the wrong way in The Unbroken and it hasn’t left me yet. Let me explain, I totally get her trying to learn and change as she goes, but at the same time.. I wanted to kick Tour in the forehead. I really like Sabine, btw… but I shall digress!
As you can tell, I’m emotionally involved and have strong feelings. All the political scheming, the revelations, the fighting and killing, but also all the love.
Maybe it’s more faith than love, I’d think that it probably takes both.. however, in many ways the series made me consider people’s character and the intent, their loyalties and ultimately their faith in humanity.
I truly enjoyed the ride and feel like I may have to reread this again in a moon or two, just to see these characters again. A satisfying conclusion, that just hurts enough to want to read it all over again.
Thank you to C.L. Clark for having me on an emotional rollercoaster (and for giving me numerous new words to add to my vocabulary!). Also, thank you to Orbit books for traumatizing me yet again.
As you can tell, I’m emotionally involved and have strong feelings. All the political scheming, the revelations, the fighting and killing, but also all the love.
Maybe it’s more faith than love, I’d think that it probably takes both.. however, in many ways the series made me consider people’s character and the intent, their loyalties and ultimately their faith in humanity.
I truly enjoyed the ride and feel like I may have to reread this again in a moon or two, just to see these characters again. A satisfying conclusion, that just hurts enough to want to read it all over again.
Thank you to C.L. Clark for having me on an emotional rollercoaster (and for giving me numerous new words to add to my vocabulary!). Also, thank you to Orbit books for traumatizing me yet again.
December 14, 2025
Худшая книга года.
October 16, 2025
I'm trying not to let hype affect my rating too much because my hype level was through the roof for this book. The first two books are some of my favorite fantasy of all time and I was so excited for the finale and . . . I didn't love it. I love these characters and this world and I really enjoyed spending time in the world again. I also didn't hate the ending and I think it kind of worked. Not totally but kind of . . . a bit. Beware of spoilers throughout!
The overarching story is about colonialism but, unfortunately, that's not the main story. The main story is about the relationship between Luca and Touraine and I think that is why the story falls flat. Luca is the Queen of a brutal colonial power and has made it clear over and over and over again that she has no interest in relinquishing her power because her power is the most important thing to her. She's willing to do truly horrific things to maintain her power and it by far her biggest flaw. Touraine, and her people, have been on the receiving end of a lot of that and, after everything that happens, it seems crazy to me that Touraine is still in for Luca and in for Ballidaire. Like Touraine . . . fuck these people, fuck this country, fuck the queen, etc. They don't respect you, they don't like you, they'll never accept you, fuck em.
One of the biggest misses in this book is that all of the conflict seems to be personal but the stakes are global. Pruett is angry at Touraine and Luca, so she goes to war over it. Touraine is upset with Luca, so she goes to war over it. Luca is jealous of Pruett, so she commits war crimes, etc. I just feel like the first two books did not do a good job of setting this book up. Why are the Taargens invading again? I feel like it's never explained. Why are the Shalans all in on fighting alongside them? Because Pruett told them to??
Mixing in the French Revolution storyline into this colonialist story about liberation feels so messy. Also the magic never makes any sense.
IDK. It is well written and the author is very talented but this book was just a miss in a lot of ways. Very disappointing.
The overarching story is about colonialism but, unfortunately, that's not the main story. The main story is about the relationship between Luca and Touraine and I think that is why the story falls flat. Luca is the Queen of a brutal colonial power and has made it clear over and over and over again that she has no interest in relinquishing her power because her power is the most important thing to her. She's willing to do truly horrific things to maintain her power and it by far her biggest flaw. Touraine, and her people, have been on the receiving end of a lot of that and, after everything that happens, it seems crazy to me that Touraine is still in for Luca and in for Ballidaire. Like Touraine . . . fuck these people, fuck this country, fuck the queen, etc. They don't respect you, they don't like you, they'll never accept you, fuck em.
One of the biggest misses in this book is that all of the conflict seems to be personal but the stakes are global. Pruett is angry at Touraine and Luca, so she goes to war over it. Touraine is upset with Luca, so she goes to war over it. Luca is jealous of Pruett, so she commits war crimes, etc. I just feel like the first two books did not do a good job of setting this book up. Why are the Taargens invading again? I feel like it's never explained. Why are the Shalans all in on fighting alongside them? Because Pruett told them to??
Mixing in the French Revolution storyline into this colonialist story about liberation feels so messy. Also the magic never makes any sense.
IDK. It is well written and the author is very talented but this book was just a miss in a lot of ways. Very disappointing.
October 10, 2025
wow sabine x touraine x luca
October 15, 2025
What a brilliant finale. Honestly, this really rocked my world. It was the kind of book that made me repeatedly scared to pick it up to find out what happened as I just kept feeling so SICK with worry about what IDIOTIC choices these characters would do next or who Clark would kill off (because I knew that shit was coming) BUT WHY MY DARLING SABINE 😭😭😭
That final battle really sealed the deal with me as well, even though the very ending was not really how I wanted it to go, I don't actually see it ending any other conceivable way. This was the "good" ending and that's fucked up. Touraine really came into her own here and Luca made me so mad and Pruett also made me so mad but her character arc was fucking insane and SABINE. Beautiful beautiful beautiful.
This had threesomes and cannibalism too! We've truly reached the peak of sapphic literature.
I'm so sad that this is over. I loved the journeys each character went on. They made me so mad and sad and I will miss them so much.
That final battle really sealed the deal with me as well, even though the very ending was not really how I wanted it to go, I don't actually see it ending any other conceivable way. This was the "good" ending and that's fucked up. Touraine really came into her own here and Luca made me so mad and Pruett also made me so mad but her character arc was fucking insane and SABINE. Beautiful beautiful beautiful.
This had threesomes and cannibalism too! We've truly reached the peak of sapphic literature.
I'm so sad that this is over. I loved the journeys each character went on. They made me so mad and sad and I will miss them so much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2025
Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of
The Sovereign!
As always, all opinions are my own and this review is being left voluntarily.
✨ Adult Epic Fantasy
✨ Third Person, Multi POV
✨ 3/5 Spice Level
✨ Book 3 in a Trilogy
✨ Rep: black MC, lesbian rep, bisexual rep, physical disability rep
I recommend if you enjoy…
- The first two books in the series
- Epic fantasy with strong political themes
- Anti-colonization themes
- Betrayal as a common element
- Love that feels like tragedy
- Not always knowing who the “bad guys” are
- Plenty of action
Content warnings after review.
General Thoughts
This book was easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Ever since I finished The Faithless, I’ve been desperate for The Sovereign (before the title had been released, even). Through the series there has been a lot of action and not a lot of rest (including for my heart) or room to breathe. (Honestly, these poor characters… love to read it.) The Sovereign actually starts out during an unusual period of calm which felt so good to read. It brought me so much joy (and gave me things I never realized I wanted). Of course, that was never going to last for long… but I knew and expected that going in. It’s part of what I love about the series.
What I loved…
- Everything??? I wish I was joking, but even through all the ups and downs… this series is a favorite of mine. Sometimes it is like watching a slow motion trainwreck, you know what’s going to happen to some extent (patterns of behavior and all), but you hope maybe this time the train is able to stop before it crashes.
- Luca, Touraine, and Sabine. That is all. I love them.
- There is a lot of sacrifice and betrayal in this book, not unexpected, but not always anticipated. So many of the characters want similar things, but their ways of going about it can be vastly different. I loved seeing how these all converged.
- Fili. The growth of her character throughout The Sovereign was really interesting to see.
- The ending because it felt inevitable. The only way it could have ended and yet you’re still left wondering if that is, in fact, what is going to happen.
What I didn’t love…
- C.L. Clark must enjoy stomping all over my heart then putting a bandaid on it. (I’m actually a glutton for punishment.)
- Characters I love don’t make it out unscathed. (But it hurts so good...)
Final Thoughts
If you are a fan of epic fantasy that leans heavy toward politics, when characters get put through the wringer, and love verging on tragedy, you need to read The Unbroken. Plus, the anti-colonialism themes ring strong through the series. It is a favorite fantasy series of mine, one which I think gets better with each book. I highly recommend and, after reading C.L. Clark’s other book (Fate’s Bane) that’s release date coincided with The Sovereign’s, C.L. Clark has firmly earned her spot on my personal “must read author” list.
(beware potential spoilers below)
Content Warnings
(may not be all inclusive)
slavery, colonization, colonialism, war, violence, torture, death (human and animal), s*xually explicit content, explicit language, cann*balism
✨ Adult Epic Fantasy
✨ Third Person, Multi POV
✨ 3/5 Spice Level
✨ Book 3 in a Trilogy
✨ Rep: black MC, lesbian rep, bisexual rep, physical disability rep
I recommend if you enjoy…
- The first two books in the series
- Epic fantasy with strong political themes
- Anti-colonization themes
- Betrayal as a common element
- Love that feels like tragedy
- Not always knowing who the “bad guys” are
- Plenty of action
Content warnings after review.
General Thoughts
This book was easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Ever since I finished The Faithless, I’ve been desperate for The Sovereign (before the title had been released, even). Through the series there has been a lot of action and not a lot of rest (including for my heart) or room to breathe. (Honestly, these poor characters… love to read it.) The Sovereign actually starts out during an unusual period of calm which felt so good to read. It brought me so much joy (and gave me things I never realized I wanted). Of course, that was never going to last for long… but I knew and expected that going in. It’s part of what I love about the series.
What I loved…
- Everything??? I wish I was joking, but even through all the ups and downs… this series is a favorite of mine. Sometimes it is like watching a slow motion trainwreck, you know what’s going to happen to some extent (patterns of behavior and all), but you hope maybe this time the train is able to stop before it crashes.
- Luca, Touraine, and Sabine. That is all. I love them.
- There is a lot of sacrifice and betrayal in this book, not unexpected, but not always anticipated. So many of the characters want similar things, but their ways of going about it can be vastly different. I loved seeing how these all converged.
- Fili. The growth of her character throughout The Sovereign was really interesting to see.
- The ending because it felt inevitable. The only way it could have ended and yet you’re still left wondering if that is, in fact, what is going to happen.
What I didn’t love…
- C.L. Clark must enjoy stomping all over my heart then putting a bandaid on it. (I’m actually a glutton for punishment.)
- Characters I love don’t make it out unscathed. (But it hurts so good...)
Final Thoughts
If you are a fan of epic fantasy that leans heavy toward politics, when characters get put through the wringer, and love verging on tragedy, you need to read The Unbroken. Plus, the anti-colonialism themes ring strong through the series. It is a favorite fantasy series of mine, one which I think gets better with each book. I highly recommend and, after reading C.L. Clark’s other book (Fate’s Bane) that’s release date coincided with The Sovereign’s, C.L. Clark has firmly earned her spot on my personal “must read author” list.
(beware potential spoilers below)
Content Warnings
(may not be all inclusive)
slavery, colonization, colonialism, war, violence, torture, death (human and animal), s*xually explicit content, explicit language, cann*balism
November 23, 2025
As my partner has put it: "This book is a rollercoaster with no safety rating and nothing to hold onto."
Thank you for the amazing series these characters are going to stay with me forever.
Thank you for the amazing series these characters are going to stay with me forever.
November 8, 2025
"Magic of the Lost" wird für mich immer ein Highlight bleiben. Drei Bände voller messy lesbian Badass Protagonisten, die nicht nur vom Plot, sondern auch ihren eigenen Entscheidungen immer wieder auseinander gerissen werden, vor einem Background aus Kolonialismus, Kampf gegen Trauma der Vergangenheit und politischen Wirrungen. Clark schreibt das einfach unglaublich stark und in diesem finalen Band kommt all das was man vorher bereits geliebt und gefürchtet hat, noch viel deutlicher heraus.
Touraines Hassliebe für Balladaire - das Land, das sie als Kind geraubt hat und ihre Identität geprägt hat, während es ihre Wurzeln gestohlen hat, die komplizierte Vergangenheit und ihr moralischer Kompass, der trotz allem das Richtige tun will.
Ein Gegenbild zu ihr ist Pruett, ihre einstige Geliebte, die in Band 2 einen ganz anderen Weg eingeschlagen hat und als Qu'aid (ich hoffe, ich schreib es richtig) ihre einstige Heimat von Balladaire zurückerobert hat und sich nun gemeinsam mit den Taargen auf einen Eroberungsfeldzug von Balladaire aufmacht um sich für all das zu rächen, was ihr widerfahren ist und genommen wurde - nicht zuletzt Touraine.
Luca, einstige Prinzessin, jetzt Königin von Balladaire, die an der Vergangenheit, an der Institution Monarchie und an sich selbst und ihren gelernten Ansprüchen zu verzweifeln droht. Ist da überhaupt noch Platz für ihre Liebe zu Touraine?
Die Charaktere in "The Sovereign" sind alle kompliziert, messy, unglaublich plastisch dadurch und ich habe beim Lesen unglaublich mitgelitten, weil ich mir einfach nicht vorstellen konnte, wie es einigermaßen gut für sie ausgehen sollte. Allein das Konstrukt des Kolonialismus und die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Touraine und Luca als Repräsentatin des unterdrückenden Staates konnte von Anfang an nicht gut ausgehen.
Mit dem, wie Clark es am Ende gelöst hat, bin ich sehr zufrieden, es war bittersweet und die Reihe wird auf jeden Fall von mir immer eine fette Empfehlung bekommen.
Touraines Hassliebe für Balladaire - das Land, das sie als Kind geraubt hat und ihre Identität geprägt hat, während es ihre Wurzeln gestohlen hat, die komplizierte Vergangenheit und ihr moralischer Kompass, der trotz allem das Richtige tun will.
Ein Gegenbild zu ihr ist Pruett, ihre einstige Geliebte, die in Band 2 einen ganz anderen Weg eingeschlagen hat und als Qu'aid (ich hoffe, ich schreib es richtig) ihre einstige Heimat von Balladaire zurückerobert hat und sich nun gemeinsam mit den Taargen auf einen Eroberungsfeldzug von Balladaire aufmacht um sich für all das zu rächen, was ihr widerfahren ist und genommen wurde - nicht zuletzt Touraine.
Luca, einstige Prinzessin, jetzt Königin von Balladaire, die an der Vergangenheit, an der Institution Monarchie und an sich selbst und ihren gelernten Ansprüchen zu verzweifeln droht. Ist da überhaupt noch Platz für ihre Liebe zu Touraine?
Die Charaktere in "The Sovereign" sind alle kompliziert, messy, unglaublich plastisch dadurch und ich habe beim Lesen unglaublich mitgelitten, weil ich mir einfach nicht vorstellen konnte, wie es einigermaßen gut für sie ausgehen sollte. Allein das Konstrukt des Kolonialismus und die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Touraine und Luca als Repräsentatin des unterdrückenden Staates konnte von Anfang an nicht gut ausgehen.
Mit dem, wie Clark es am Ende gelöst hat, bin ich sehr zufrieden, es war bittersweet und die Reihe wird auf jeden Fall von mir immer eine fette Empfehlung bekommen.
October 15, 2025
3.5 rounded up. The final battle was really good and overall a fitting conclusion to an epic trilogy.
September 21, 2023
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
March 31, 2024
Giving a book a five star review before it comes out is crazy... almost as crazy as giving it a one-star review, or review bombing! Much love to this series
October 12, 2025
I didn’t want it to end. I started this trilogy last year, when I was in Utah and met with a friend I had not seen in 7 years. I think I was meant to be reading this trilogy during that time. That trip changed my life and I think it contributed to how much I loved this trilogy. I’m so glad I discovered CL Clark and when I found out that she went to IU, it only made me happier.
*there may be some MINOR spoilers ahead, no deaths or major ones though*
This last book in the trilogy had it all. It really had you guessing where loyalties lied. I found myself questioning everyone and weirdly hating everyone at one point but not wanting any of them to die.
Sweet sweet Sabine. I fell in love with her even more. I love that we got to the dynamic between the three of them and how they differed when together and when alone with each other. I loved getting to see the love all three of them had for one another.
Touraine is really one of the only characters I didn’t get too mad at. She seemed to keep her word the most and trust in her wife, Luca. Of course I didn’t agree with everything she did but for the most part, everything she did was what the plan was and was for the good of Balladaire.
Luca pissed me off the most. She redeems herself but she really pissed me off and you can definitely see the theme of colonialism and its systemic clutches wrapping around Luca’s throat. I know there’s a lot of unlearning and relearning that is going to have to be done on her part. But honestly? That’s realistic. Just like we have to unlearn the systemic racism that is America, so did Luca.
I’m glad we also got to see more of the Jak, Tourraine’s mom. I want to see more of her and Luca interact in the future and see how they interact as mother and daughter in law lol.
I have to say, this is probably one of my favorite trilogies. For the most part, we got a happy ish ending. A realistic, happy ending.
I’m looseleft right now, but that’s what a great book does to you. Thank you CL Clark.
*there may be some MINOR spoilers ahead, no deaths or major ones though*
This last book in the trilogy had it all. It really had you guessing where loyalties lied. I found myself questioning everyone and weirdly hating everyone at one point but not wanting any of them to die.
Sweet sweet Sabine. I fell in love with her even more. I love that we got to the dynamic between the three of them and how they differed when together and when alone with each other. I loved getting to see the love all three of them had for one another.
Touraine is really one of the only characters I didn’t get too mad at. She seemed to keep her word the most and trust in her wife, Luca. Of course I didn’t agree with everything she did but for the most part, everything she did was what the plan was and was for the good of Balladaire.
Luca pissed me off the most. She redeems herself but she really pissed me off and you can definitely see the theme of colonialism and its systemic clutches wrapping around Luca’s throat. I know there’s a lot of unlearning and relearning that is going to have to be done on her part. But honestly? That’s realistic. Just like we have to unlearn the systemic racism that is America, so did Luca.
I’m glad we also got to see more of the Jak, Tourraine’s mom. I want to see more of her and Luca interact in the future and see how they interact as mother and daughter in law lol.
I have to say, this is probably one of my favorite trilogies. For the most part, we got a happy ish ending. A realistic, happy ending.
I’m looseleft right now, but that’s what a great book does to you. Thank you CL Clark.
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