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The Ruby Throne Trilogy #3

Ruby Throne 3: The Realm of Light

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War breaks out after Emperor Kostimon dies, and his young widow, Elandra, and her lover, Caelan, escape the darkness and chaos only to discover that the emperor might still be alive, forcing her to choose love or take her place on the throne. Original.

395 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

6 people are currently reading
204 people want to read

About the author

Deborah Chester

55 books153 followers
The internationally published, award-winning author of 41 novels, Deborah Chester has written Regency romances, historical romances, young adult, science fiction, and fantasy. She is a tenured professor of professional writing in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches novel and short story writing.
She holds a B.A. with General Honors and an M.A. in Journalism; both degrees are from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied professional writing from author/teachers Jack M. Bickham, Robert L. Duncan, and Pulitzer-nominee Carolyn Hart. Chester has been writing professionally since 1978, and has used three pseudonyms – Jay D. Blakeney and Sean Dalton and C. Aubrey Hall for some of her science fiction and fantasy works.
In 2004, she was inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America.

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5 stars
75 (24%)
4 stars
107 (34%)
3 stars
97 (31%)
2 stars
22 (7%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Profile Image for Shaunesay.
640 reviews83 followers
June 30, 2010
This was a good trilogy, it started kind of slow, but was a good story!
Profile Image for LoKat.
467 reviews3 followers
April 3, 2024
I don't care for insta-love, and a lot of the magic (and Mael) was pretty vague, but it was an exciting and mostly fast-paced read. Classic fantasy, nothing new or exceptional, but classic for a reason.
Profile Image for Animetart.
113 reviews14 followers
October 21, 2024
Ugh. This book was awful. I really liked the first two, but this one...terrible. Caelan and Eleandra were both so unlikeable and annoying. Eleandra was whiny and weepy, while Caelan just stomped around mad all the time. Could barely get through this book. Blecch.
Profile Image for Carolien.
43 reviews
Read
May 13, 2022
Nice trilogy, read it within a week or so.
Profile Image for Frances.
22 reviews
August 3, 2025
Bad ending, cliche and annoying plot points, but had to find out what happened to the charachters.
Profile Image for Tim Nielsen.
30 reviews5 followers
April 8, 2008
Although this book was the best of the series I have to say that I really did not like the structure of the series. As I read through this series I felt a huge build-up and I knew everything was going to culminate in this great confrontation. The hero is finally learning how to be a hero and he gets the girl and of course everything goes wrong. I was expecting all this. What I wasn’t expecting was that by the time I knew about all the things that were going wrong there were only three pages left in the book. So everything after such a huge build-up came to a screeching and very painful halt. I do appreciate a better explanation of the system of magic but there were still a lot of questions left unanswered. The character of Bael was only briefly mentioned but then at the end of the book she turns out to be this huge character. Overall there were a lot of problems with the story but I love the character development and how the characters interacted with each other. Building unique and believable characters is definitely something Deborah excels at. Like I said before if only the story was as great as the characters I think this book would have been great.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Patti.
140 reviews2 followers
September 8, 2008
I kept waiting for the moment when this book got too long, or too over-the-top, or too dumb, but it never did. I was involved right up until the end. In fact, it got to a point where I wanted to put the book into the freezer. This book ended when it was supposed to, nothing felt contrived or forced, and I loved the story. If you love fantasy, this series is a great read.
54 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2016
Great ending to the trilogy!

Thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy. There is non-stop action and wonderful storytelling. I would recommend this series by Deborah Chester to anyone who likes the genre!
Profile Image for Sarah Mari.
180 reviews1 follower
September 7, 2016
I enjoyed the trilogy, but I felt like the relationships were forced. The lore of the world was intriguing & I wanted more explanations. I also felt that the dialogue was forced & there were characters who could have influenced the story in big ways if they had been developed more fully.
Profile Image for Angela.
3,126 reviews12 followers
May 10, 2014
A very satisfying end to the trilogy, would definitely recommend it to other fantasy book fans.
1 review
May 13, 2015
Good but missing some plot

I wanted a 3.5. The author is a good writer, but she did the majority of her character development in book 3.
Profile Image for Christopher B. Jones.
13 reviews
April 29, 2016
Very entertaining!

This was a good read. Over much to soon, but just right. I was left looking for another book about the children.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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