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Under the Northern Sky #3
The Cuckoo
Albion continues to be divided by revolt and bloodshed, as alliances collapse and are made anew.
Driven obsessively for glory, the upstart Bellamus and his exiled queen Aramilla are marshalling resistance and building a powerful army.
Returning to the Hindrunn, Keturah is forced to fend for herself, battling enemies on all sides just when she is most in need of a place of safety.
And all the while, the young Black Lord must deal not only with the aftermath of a great betrayal, but the cold shadow of the Kryptea, threatening to destroy everything he has fought for...
For more from Leo Carew, check out:
The Wolf
The Spider
The Cuckoo
Driven obsessively for glory, the upstart Bellamus and his exiled queen Aramilla are marshalling resistance and building a powerful army.
Returning to the Hindrunn, Keturah is forced to fend for herself, battling enemies on all sides just when she is most in need of a place of safety.
And all the while, the young Black Lord must deal not only with the aftermath of a great betrayal, but the cold shadow of the Kryptea, threatening to destroy everything he has fought for...
For more from Leo Carew, check out:
The Wolf
The Spider
The Cuckoo
512 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 2022
67 people are currently reading
1606 people want to read
About the author
Leo Carew
5 books415 followersThe third of four children, Leo Carew grew up in the centre of London, in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Inspired by audiobooks, he developed a late interest in reading and began trying his hand at writing soon afterwards.
Carew read Biological Anthropology at Jesus College, Cambridge, after which he pursued a long-standing love of cold and wild places to the High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard - Old Norse for 'The Cold Edge.' Here, he lived in a tent for a year, training and working as an Arctic guide, and subsequently an explorer. This was also when he revisited a novel he had begun at the age of 12, which was rewritten as The Wolf, the first book in his Under the Northern Sky trilogy.
A reluctant return to London followed to pursue a career as an army medic, during which he completed the sequels - The Spider, and The Cuckoo. Carew currently works as a British Army doctor, plotting his next book, and his next expedition to high north, south or altitude.
Carew read Biological Anthropology at Jesus College, Cambridge, after which he pursued a long-standing love of cold and wild places to the High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard - Old Norse for 'The Cold Edge.' Here, he lived in a tent for a year, training and working as an Arctic guide, and subsequently an explorer. This was also when he revisited a novel he had begun at the age of 12, which was rewritten as The Wolf, the first book in his Under the Northern Sky trilogy.
A reluctant return to London followed to pursue a career as an army medic, during which he completed the sequels - The Spider, and The Cuckoo. Carew currently works as a British Army doctor, plotting his next book, and his next expedition to high north, south or altitude.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
February 6, 2024
Watch my video review by clicking here.
A good book that is unfortunately hampered from greatness by some poor plot choices to end the trilogy.
A good book that is unfortunately hampered from greatness by some poor plot choices to end the trilogy.
October 29, 2023
4,5 stars
Wow what an amazing conclusion to this trilogy ! This is my favourite book in the trilogy. Leo Carew takes some incredible risks in this book, and he makes it completely work. He doesn't pull any punches here. There is great character work, fabulous action sequences , wonderful political intrigue, gruesome scenes,... It's bleak and hopeful, heroic and cynical,... This book has it all. Carew has created an society/culture that feels real, is engaging to read about and is so fascinating to pick apart. It's an emotional rollercoaster and it is just a great read. This series deserves to be picked up: it's amazing in my opinion !
Wow what an amazing conclusion to this trilogy ! This is my favourite book in the trilogy. Leo Carew takes some incredible risks in this book, and he makes it completely work. He doesn't pull any punches here. There is great character work, fabulous action sequences , wonderful political intrigue, gruesome scenes,... It's bleak and hopeful, heroic and cynical,... This book has it all. Carew has created an society/culture that feels real, is engaging to read about and is so fascinating to pick apart. It's an emotional rollercoaster and it is just a great read. This series deserves to be picked up: it's amazing in my opinion !
December 4, 2022
3.5 stars
This is a solid end to a dense historical epic fantasy series that was well written, but not exactly to my personal tastes.
The story is complex and detailed, but not in a way that worked for me. Instead of getting immersed in this story, I found this more exhaustive. I think this book will most appeal to readers of historical fiction because the fantasy elements were very sparse.
This is an ambitious series, but simply not one for me. If you are interested in this trilogy, you will want to start back at the beginning with The Wolf.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This is a solid end to a dense historical epic fantasy series that was well written, but not exactly to my personal tastes.
The story is complex and detailed, but not in a way that worked for me. Instead of getting immersed in this story, I found this more exhaustive. I think this book will most appeal to readers of historical fiction because the fantasy elements were very sparse.
This is an ambitious series, but simply not one for me. If you are interested in this trilogy, you will want to start back at the beginning with The Wolf.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
May 4, 2023
5/5 stars
Update: Can someone please tell me why four months later I still cannot get over this ending and haven't been able to read another book since?
I don't have any words.... I have no words at all. The last 20 pages really solidified this book for me. Leo you have truly written something beautiful and for that I am thankful. I laughed and cried with these characters, and now as their story comes to an end I can say that this will go down in history as my favorite fantasy series of all time. Well done Leo, well done.
Update: Can someone please tell me why four months later I still cannot get over this ending and haven't been able to read another book since?
I don't have any words.... I have no words at all. The last 20 pages really solidified this book for me. Leo you have truly written something beautiful and for that I am thankful. I laughed and cried with these characters, and now as their story comes to an end I can say that this will go down in history as my favorite fantasy series of all time. Well done Leo, well done.
May 13, 2024
The last 10% of this book is genuinely otherworldly good. Even better on reread. When is this series going to blow up?!
Original Review: This book is an absolutely triumphant end to this incredible series. It's so amazing to watch Leo Carew grow as writer across these three books (not that he is a slouch in The Wolf), and alongside his fantastic characters. The greatest strength though is that this book truly feels like a story that really happened and is being recounted by the author (very fitting of the world too) rather than a tale that was constructed and molded by the author. The ending is nowhere near where I would have expected to end up, but it is still incredibly well done and doesn't feel like its coming out of right field. I can't wait to reread this series again in the not too distant future.
Original Review: This book is an absolutely triumphant end to this incredible series. It's so amazing to watch Leo Carew grow as writer across these three books (not that he is a slouch in The Wolf), and alongside his fantastic characters. The greatest strength though is that this book truly feels like a story that really happened and is being recounted by the author (very fitting of the world too) rather than a tale that was constructed and molded by the author. The ending is nowhere near where I would have expected to end up, but it is still incredibly well done and doesn't feel like its coming out of right field. I can't wait to reread this series again in the not too distant future.
June 25, 2023
I give this 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Holy Shit……now what an ending!! This series Clawed its way up from novel to novel to get a climax that’ll sucker punch you… all these characters are great first book. Yes I’ll admit it. I gave it a 3.5 second book. I gave it for this book deserves a five, but I bet if I reread everything all over again down the road, it’ll be a perfect score, , so I implore you to get your hands on the wolf, the spider and the cuckoo for your collection.
Holy Shit……now what an ending!! This series Clawed its way up from novel to novel to get a climax that’ll sucker punch you… all these characters are great first book. Yes I’ll admit it. I gave it a 3.5 second book. I gave it for this book deserves a five, but I bet if I reread everything all over again down the road, it’ll be a perfect score, , so I implore you to get your hands on the wolf, the spider and the cuckoo for your collection.
December 13, 2022
“You are symmetry to me, my piece of the sublime, my star”.
Brutal, beautiful and heartbreaking to the end, this was such a thrilling finish to this trilogy. Carew never compromises his story and it’s truth that makes this one hell of a ending!
Brutal, beautiful and heartbreaking to the end, this was such a thrilling finish to this trilogy. Carew never compromises his story and it’s truth that makes this one hell of a ending!
April 14, 2024
hmmmm. not sure about this one. The bleh parts in the middle were bleh. The thing that saved this book was Kethura and the legal proceedings.
August 23, 2024
Thank God it's over, honestly.
December 24, 2022
The feelings I went through as I was reading this series was something I hardly see from other books (except Robin Hobb). The first book was the best I’ve read this year, going through Roper’s struggle to deal with the politics and schemes behind his back as the new Black Lord, with no experience in war, having to win his people over while trying not to get himself killed, I loved Roper and his companions.
The second book was more adventurous and action packed, truly enjoyable, even the battles and war was fun to read (War themed stories are not my cup of tea).
The third book broke my heart, but seeing some sweet revenge being done satisfied me, the ending got me emotional,
A promising new author that I’ll definitely be following more after this series.
The second book was more adventurous and action packed, truly enjoyable, even the battles and war was fun to read (War themed stories are not my cup of tea).
The third book broke my heart, but seeing some sweet revenge being done satisfied me, the ending got me emotional,
A promising new author that I’ll definitely be following more after this series.
September 1, 2024
I was initially going to give the book four stars, but I'm glad I let the ending resonate for a couple days.
The ending originally frustrated me. Though, the more I thought about it, the more I began to interpret things a little differently. In the end, I think this may be the perfect way to close this series.
Overall, this is easily the best book in the series. I need to reread Under the Northern Sky as a whole some day.
The ending originally frustrated me. Though, the more I thought about it, the more I began to interpret things a little differently. In the end, I think this may be the perfect way to close this series.
Overall, this is easily the best book in the series. I need to reread Under the Northern Sky as a whole some day.
October 9, 2022
What an epic ending, to an epic trilogy.
Under The Northern Sky is without a doubt my favourite series.
Just awesome 👌
Well done Leo.
Under The Northern Sky is without a doubt my favourite series.
Just awesome 👌
Well done Leo.
November 15, 2024
This is one of the best series I have read. The ending is sublime, especially the last page. It is poetic, beautiful and deep.
The whole series is beautiful. But also really really hard to digest.
I get it, it needed to be raw, real, based on historical events. And the more "evolved" species/races always destroyed the "primitive" ones. See the fate of Maya, Inca, Aboriginal people etc (Although, this primitivism is really superficial, based on our lack of understanding. And this book underlines this. )
Having said that, it is really hard to digest the ending. I repeat, it is sublime, but painful.
And the worst thing is that Bellamus thrived. Most characters in this book are depicted as grey, not positive nor negative. Take Roper for example, who is not a hero and leads to the destruction of his kind. But Bellamus is so selfish and has little redeeming qualities. SO selfish that he betrays all the people close to him. For one goal and one goal only: power.
His storyline is infuriating, but again, this happened often in history. The bad guys won.
Excluding this part, everything else is a beautiful sadness. You leave a piece of yourself on that final battlefield, and, as soon as you finish the book, you long for it.
I think, in time, the greatness of this series will only grow. Both objectively and in my memory.
P.S. I should take away a star for this: why did Ketturah refuse peace when Aramilla offered? She didn't want this war to continue anyway.
The whole series is beautiful. But also really really hard to digest.
I get it, it needed to be raw, real, based on historical events. And the more "evolved" species/races always destroyed the "primitive" ones. See the fate of Maya, Inca, Aboriginal people etc (Although, this primitivism is really superficial, based on our lack of understanding. And this book underlines this. )
Having said that, it is really hard to digest the ending. I repeat, it is sublime, but painful.
And the worst thing is that Bellamus thrived. Most characters in this book are depicted as grey, not positive nor negative. Take Roper for example, who is not a hero and leads to the destruction of his kind. But Bellamus is so selfish and has little redeeming qualities. SO selfish that he betrays all the people close to him. For one goal and one goal only: power.
His storyline is infuriating, but again, this happened often in history. The bad guys won.
Excluding this part, everything else is a beautiful sadness. You leave a piece of yourself on that final battlefield, and, as soon as you finish the book, you long for it.
I think, in time, the greatness of this series will only grow. Both objectively and in my memory.
P.S. I should take away a star for this: why did Ketturah refuse peace when Aramilla offered? She didn't want this war to continue anyway.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2023
What an amazing ending to an amazing series... The Wolf was the book that actually got me into and excited about reading. Now that the series is done, I can't help but feel sad... I loved the world, the characters, and the story itself. I recommend this series to everyone.... Thank you, Leo Carew, for an amazing story, and thank you for getting me into reading.
April 5, 2023
Shocking ending which was not at all what I expected. I wish more series would go down a path like this to show the true pain and cost of starting a war. Great series overall
September 26, 2022
Oh my, what an absolutely brilliant finish to this series. Excellent.
October 9, 2022
An epic and satisfactory ending to the Under the Northern Sky saga. Full of defined and believable characters. It's hard not to feel connection and emotion to the loyalty depicted throughout.
Bravo, Leo Carew.
Bravo, Leo Carew.
January 26, 2023
I have no words. I didn't want to give this 5 stars, but it absolutely deserves each and every one.
So why do I not want to give it 5 stars? Because I love happy endings and hate crying over characters that aren't real. But Leo Carew, you made them very, very real. And beautiful.
I'll leave it with my favorite line, and will not tell you who says it, but this is the poetry and perfection that embodies all three books:
"... You are semmetry to me. My piece of the sublime. My star."
And I cannot wait to see what Leo Carew does next. I'll be there to read every book he writes.
So why do I not want to give it 5 stars? Because I love happy endings and hate crying over characters that aren't real. But Leo Carew, you made them very, very real. And beautiful.
I'll leave it with my favorite line, and will not tell you who says it, but this is the poetry and perfection that embodies all three books:
"... You are semmetry to me. My piece of the sublime. My star."
And I cannot wait to see what Leo Carew does next. I'll be there to read every book he writes.
December 11, 2022
Brutal. Tragic. Glorious. Epic.
This entire trilogy stressed me out in all the right ways, and these books ended up being some of the best I’ve read this year, especially after this moving conclusion. The characters aren’t necessarily likable, but they are believable, and by the end I definitely loved everything they stood for. I was enthralled by Roper, Keturah, and Gray’s every action, and Ormur really shone in this book too.
This trilogy also has some of the best and most intense battle scenes and fight sequences I’ve ever read. On top of that, some of the passages and speeches in these books are literally shiver-inducing, both profound and electrifying, and the last few chapters actually brought tears to my eyes. The war between the Sutherners and the Anakim really captured a sense of sad inevitability that was both heartbreaking and powerful.
As of now, I feel like this trilogy is underrated and certainly deserves more attention, especially from fantasy, historical fiction, and military fiction fans. This is a story that will stick with me.
This entire trilogy stressed me out in all the right ways, and these books ended up being some of the best I’ve read this year, especially after this moving conclusion. The characters aren’t necessarily likable, but they are believable, and by the end I definitely loved everything they stood for. I was enthralled by Roper, Keturah, and Gray’s every action, and Ormur really shone in this book too.
This trilogy also has some of the best and most intense battle scenes and fight sequences I’ve ever read. On top of that, some of the passages and speeches in these books are literally shiver-inducing, both profound and electrifying, and the last few chapters actually brought tears to my eyes. The war between the Sutherners and the Anakim really captured a sense of sad inevitability that was both heartbreaking and powerful.
As of now, I feel like this trilogy is underrated and certainly deserves more attention, especially from fantasy, historical fiction, and military fiction fans. This is a story that will stick with me.
December 20, 2022
There's rarely been a book in which I've been so invested in its characters. I don't know how he's done it, but Leo Carew has crafted some absolutely incredible characters. To put it into perspective I feel as if I've lost loved ones after having just finished it.
The Under the Northern Sky trilogy won't be for everyone but if you're a fan of military fiction you'll probably enjoy these books.
The Under the Northern Sky trilogy won't be for everyone but if you're a fan of military fiction you'll probably enjoy these books.
January 3, 2023
What a series. The author put so much effort into this series it’s practically spoiled me. As someone who has a passing interest in anthropology, his detail about Anakim society is truly fascinating. The ending, in my opinion, felt perfectly in-line with the point he makes with evolutionary change in society and was a satisfying conclusion to the story. I hope he does more with this universe and I’ll read every bit of it!
January 4, 2023
The third book of Leo's I couldn't put down for a second. Brilliant
November 28, 2025
4.25 stars.
December 23, 2022
This book (and series really) was everything I was hoping for and more! I was so excited and a little nervous going into this because of how strong a reaction I had to the second book (it had me in tears, I love it so much). I’ve read my share of series that fail to stick the landing and I’m so happy to say this was a perfect ending to the trilogy! The characters have come to mean so much to me and I couldn’t have dream of a more fitting end. This was easily the best read of the year for me. I’m still crying. Loved it so much!
December 16, 2022
A beautiful conclusion to a trilogy I couldn't get enough of. Leo is in a league all his own, writing like no author I've encountered. The pride and brotherhood of the Anakim, the savagery and grit, the stakes and setting, will resonate with me long after he puts his pen down for the last time. I'm unashamed to say I was moved to tears in the reading. I will forever recommend these books, and will no doubt return to them time and time again.
November 11, 2022
Probably one of the best fantasy series I have ever read! And this final installment just tops it off brilliantly! I didn't want it to finish!
December 22, 2022
NO SPOILERS
I absolutely love this entire series. The Kryptea have a very big role in this book, and make for an interesting twist. I did not expect the book to end in the way it did, but I actually liked the ending and it leaves me fulfilled.
Leo Carew i’ll be keeping an eye out for anything else you write.
I absolutely love this entire series. The Kryptea have a very big role in this book, and make for an interesting twist. I did not expect the book to end in the way it did, but I actually liked the ending and it leaves me fulfilled.
Leo Carew i’ll be keeping an eye out for anything else you write.
October 28, 2024
I really didn't care for the ending of this book. I think that as the series progressed, the writing did improve in quality. Out of the dozens of epic fantasy series I've read, this is one of the most lackluster endings I've faced. I'd compare it to the disappointment of watching the GOT television series ending.
February 28, 2023
This would've hurt less if Leo Carew hadn't made me care about everyone so damn much. There's no other way I could've seen this series ending though, and it was a wonderful ride from page 1 of The Wolf to the last line of The Cuckoo.
March 19, 2023
I'm so sorry to be finished this series. I've looked in on the lives of the protagonists for some weeks. I feel like I've lost friends with the ending of this third book. Leo Carew, please write a sequel. I need to know what happens to Keturah and her people on Iceland.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews