The Boundless: Epic fantasy adventure from the award-winning author of THE VAGRANT: Book 3

The Deathless Trilogy #3

by Peter Newman

The thrilling conclusion to an epic trilogy of dynastic struggles in a world of crystal castles, winged knights, and savage wilderness. THE BATTLE
House Sapphire has a new leader, but High Lord Vasinidra cannot stand still for a moment. The monsters of the Wild are hunting with a new intelligence and purpose, and one Deathless family is already on the brink of extinction. THE BETRAYERS
In the forests of the Wild, Chandni faces a choice that will transform her or destroy her. Far above, her two sons are reunited at last and forced to confront their true origins. AND THE BOUNDLESS
Pari Tanzanite has never stayed within the rules. On a desperate journey to the source of her world’s magic, Pari will discover secrets even she could never have imagined – secrets that will change the rules completely. A NEW POWER IS APPROACHING

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy

448 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2020

About the author

Peter Newman co-writes the Hugo and Alfie Award winning Tea and Jeopardy podcast and is also the voice of the butler, Latimer.

His debut novel, THE VAGRANT, was published by Harper Voyager and won the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best newcomer in 2016. It was followed by THE MALICE, and then THE SEVEN.

There are also two shorter stories set in the same world, available as ebooks. THE HAMMER AND THE GOAT (which is set parallel to THE VAGRANT) and THE VAGRANT AND THE CITY, which is set between books 2 and 3.

He has also written for WILDCARDS, and Fantasy MMO ALBION ONLINE.

He's currently working on a new series. Book 1, THE DEATHLESS, is coming out in the UK in June 2018.

Reviews

[James Tivendale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a review copy of The Boundless in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Peter Newman and Harper Voyager.

The Ruthless was my favourite fantasy read of 2019 and that lead to The Boundless being one of my most anticipated releases of 2020. When The Boundless was posted through my letterbox, all the other novels that I have to review ceased to exist temporarily until I had finished The Deathless trilogy. In fact, I re-read both The Deathless and The Ruthless before tackling The Boundless so that the characters, drama, and excitement were totally fresh in my mind. Through doing this I was reminded of some of the exceptional moments that concluded The Ruthless and the hints presented there of what could follow in the series finale. I was extremely excited to finally read The Boundless and Newman did not disappoint at all. *Minor spoilers for the previous books in the series may follow.

In The Boundless, we still follow the point of view perspectives of Sa-at, Satyendra, Vasinidra, Lady Pari, and Chandni. The events presented here happen straight after the conclusion of The Ruthless. Sa-at is now in Lord Rochant's floating castle as is the dark doppelganger Satyendra. Lady Pari plans to venture to the chasm beneath the same castle to help her brother Arkav find the missing part of himself. Vasinidra hopes to rid the Wilds of the bane that is the Scuttling Corpseman and, elsewhere in the Wilds, exiled Chandni leaves her fate to the creatures and demons that lurk there.

I don't want to talk too much about the events of this novel but there are many standout moments, stunning set-pieces, unlikely alliances, long-awaited meetings and reunions, great showdowns and battles, and lots of darkness, death, the unpredictable and the macabre. The Boundless is an extremely satisfying and fitting conclusion to a top-quality series that deserves many more readers. I enjoyed following every point of view perspective and found the characters extremely memorable and engaging. The Wilds is a great character in itself, and contains some wonderful entities like Murderkind, the Dogkin, Whispercages, and the moving trees.

Newman fits a lot of incredible moments into these 437 pages. The Boundless is fast-paced, action-packed and thrilling. In fact, a few scenes were so intense that they seemed to race by at supernatural, Deathless-like speed. A couple of moments seemed to rush by a bit too fast but this is just my personal opinion and it's only a minor criticism.

I really didn't want the novel to end, and actually slowed my reading speed as the conclusion approached as I really wanted to savour these moments and this may be the only time these characters grace the pages of fantasy books. I have no idea if Newman plans to return to this well-crafted and darkly endearing world of the Wilds, Deathless, floating castles and the Godroads; but he'll have a reader waiting in me if he ever chooses to.

I'd give the Deathless series as a whole a 9/10 rating and guess it's now about time that I try out Newman's The Vagrant books. To finish up, I can confirm that I had a fantastic reading experience with this deliciously dark and unique fantasy series and recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book in the Deathless trilogy was easily the best, blending truly dark fantasy with pretty fantastic worldbuilding and magic rules that are only outdone by the depth of character-building.

The first book establishes the world and the beginning of the fall of House Sapphire, with its nobles who use their kin to effectively live forever, jumping their souls from body to body, while the Wild down below their flying castles threatens to take over the world with demons of all kinds, all of which have a penchant for magically enforceable promises.

In the second book, fifteen years later, a pretty great changeling base for a story throws the story into a truly disquieting tailspin. The politics reach a nicely feverish pitch.

But the third book tops them both, reaching that perfect balance and a screamingly good climax that puts the blade to everyone. The tragedy is still there, but the magic and the final battle is extremely satisfying in that special way that only a slow, careful build-up can accomplish.

I'm very happy with this story -- and make no mistake, the full trilogy belongs together as one story.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally got around to finishing up this series and I’m glad that I did. This one wasn’t my favourite of the series but it was a strong end and very action-packed throughout and I do highly recommend the series. The magic of the world is a lot of fun, following different Crystal houses who can fly with magic armour, be reborn into new bodies and fight the Wild (a place of blood, demons, creatures, pacts and more). There’s a lot of vicious moments, a lot of complex characters, and some fascinating storylines which are all building across the series’s and climaxing here.

What I liked about this was returning to the familiar characters and world and following on after the dramatic events of book #2. The story is full of intense people who all have their own agendas and alliances and I picked these back up quickly despite it being a while since I read the second.
I also love the Wilds, I just think the ferocity and the ominous tense moments we have there are always very atmospheric. We also see lots of moments of action in the Wilds and get closer to the demons and creatures in this one too through pacts and deals both good and bad.

What I found a little less my thing (not a bad thing, just not as my thing) was the sheer amount of plots that are all building to the major battle. Personally battle scenes don’t always work for me and the whole story hinges on a battle with everyone involved, so this didn’t work as well as it could for me. I wish there were a few more smaller character moments. We have some parts like that but not as much as I wanted and I just wished I could have seen the characters have sentimental snippets rather than Pow Pow Pow moments. I also felt like the whole book was wrapped up pretty fast and I would have liked some of the plot lines to have a bit more time spent. But these are mostly down to personal preference and overall I still really liked this one.

3.5*s for this one :) a solid 4* series though as I really enjoyed the previous two and this was still a lot of fun!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read book 1 of this trilogy, *The Deathless*, almost exactly three years ago. Since I just finished book 2 (*The Ruthless*) and book 3 (*The Boundless*) together, I’m going to go ahead and review the entire series. No spoilers. Newman is better known in these parts for his *Vagrant* trilogy (though still not as well known as he should be). For those who liked that trilogy, odds are very good you’ll like the Deathless trilogy as well despite the notable lack of goats.

These books are set in a world largely ruled by demons (or, at least, creatures that the humans on this world call demons). Humanity is able to survive thanks to the godroads - ancient pathways that give off an energy that is anathema to demons. All human settlements are huddled up against the godroads - the people of the villages will venture into the Wild, in daylight and with great caution, to forage, but they never venture far from the roads. And when the demons start getting too active in an area, the settlements put out a call to the Deathless to drive them back.

The seven houses of the Deathless live in great floating castles held aloft by the energy of the godroads and rule over humanity. The Deathless themselves fight in great suits of crystalline armor, again powered by the energy of the godroads, that enable them to meet the demons head-on. They are called the Deathless because whenever one of them dies in battle against the demons of the Wild (which happens fairly regularly) they are, after an interim of a few years in most cases, reborn into the body of one of their descendants. Through working and fighting alongside each other for many lifetimes, they gain the skills needed to keep the Demons at bay.

The demons themselves are very interesting. They felt very similar to the demons of the Vagrant trilogy (there’s no explicit connection, but I’d be surprised to learn that Newman didn’t conceive of these trilogies being part of the same universe). They’re alien, and dangerous, and are quite happy to eat people, but they never really give the impression that they’re *evil* in the traditional sense. Monstrous, perhaps, but not evil. Indeed (again, here like in the Vagrant books) these are definitely fantasy with a hefty dose of horror mixed in. The demons one and all would fit right in with the taste of the folks over at /r/horrorlit. And the Wild - the forest beyond the fringes of the godroads - has its own personality and life as well. It reminds me quite a bit of the Wood from Naomi Novik’s *Uprooted*.

All of this is worldbuilding, and while worldbuilding is a definite strength of Newman’s, it’s not all he’s got going on. There are intrigues going on with the Deathless of House Sapphire, and the equilibrium that has endured for millenia between humans and demons is falling out of balance. I’m not going to go into the plot in any detail because that would be spoilers. I’ll say this much. I enjoyed book 1 quite a bit. I struggled somewhat with book 2, but I mostly blame that on not giving myself a refresher on book 1 before I read it. By the time I got about halfway through 2, I was on solid ground again. Things were still confusing, but intentionally so. The twists and turns were exciting, and the climax of the trilogy was almost impossible to put down.

And I really, really want one of you lovely people to read this trilogy, because I am dying to discuss the ending with someone. The conclusion to the series is *perfect*. It’s worth reading the entire thing just to get to.

The final book comes out August 21 in the US. Not sure of the UK publication date. Thanks to Harper Voyager for the ARC.

[Marielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, Peter Newman saved the best for the last book in the trilogy. I loved it, he tied up all the loose ends in an excellent way while also opening new possibilities in this world. I can't wait for more...!

[jeliy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missing Emma Newman as the narrator with this final book.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boundless is a satisfying conclusion to the Deathless trilogy.
The house Sapphire has a new leader and a traitor in their midst.The Demons of the wild have a new kind of intelligence, and war finally comes to the Deathless.
If you love high action fantasy, with great characters, then I recommend you read this, or anything written by Peter Newman for that matter. You won't be disappointed.

[Ducere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expected more. The ending is lacking of real closure, to be honest.

Questions remain, world building was weak, there's hardly any character to really root for or that is indeed remarkable, except perhaps for Pari and Chandni (it's pleasant to see strong female characters) but male characters were quite disappointing... even Vasin with his small growth and Rochant and his ambitions, which is a shame because I know Peter Newman can write truly great male characters like the Vagrant and Harm (I'll forever be salty about Harm, Peter, forever).

There's no answer or explanation to some important questions, they just exist without a background because that's the world in this book and they will remain without answers because the story is over.

Then, nearing the end it feels as if Newman, for a second, thought on a fourth book but at the last moment decided that "nahhhh, let's leave it sorta open"

[Leticia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third and final book was awesome and beautifully epic in so many ways. The characters are rarely done in such relatable ways and I really liked how this story wrapped up.
One of the best fantasy series I ever read!

[Jack Woodbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good: Newman is still the best world builder working today. His ideas are completely original and unique. In this book I really liked Chandni’s character arc and development. She flips from a cowardly, obnoxious woman in the first book to a competent leader in this one, and unlike so many modern books featuring “strong female protagonists” it actually feels earned. Likewise Vassin and Pari remain super easy to cheer for and I enjoyed where their stories ended up.

The Meh: I’m not sure if Newman’s publisher was pushing for him to leave it open for a fourth book, if he included subplots in the second book that he then didn’t have the space to resolve in this book, or what happened. But there are definitely a frustrating amount of unresolved plot points. Most of them you are able to just shrug off as a minor distraction in an otherwise good book, except for…


The Bad: …how he resolves the story of the scuttling corpsman. Having three books build him up as the villain, dedicating much of this book to his backstory, only to end by having the main characters surmise that the problem was he just wasn’t loved enough was the most disappointed I’ve been in a hot minute. To paraphrase Brooklyn 99 “cool motive, still attempted and mostly succeeded in butchering hundreds of innocents.” I get that Newman wanted to reveal that Rochant was the real villain all along, but surely he could have made that point while still delivering just punishment to the other big bad of the series as well.

Also Bad: Early on in the book, it is revealed that the rebirth cycle that the entire civilization is based off of is a cleverly disguised ritual sacrifice for inter-dimensional beings (man, what a wild sentence that was to write). The souls of the honored vessels who sacrifice themselves so that the deathless can inhabit their bodies are devoured by demons in a void between realms. I thought this was a massive development. I thought it would bring about a reformation of the entire society. I thought the main characters, many of whom are the deathless who benefit from this system would be astounded and shocked by the news. I was excited to see how Newman incorporated this twist into the already complex story he was telling.

He just didn’t. Despite it’s mind boggling moral implications, the twist has so little of an impact on the story that it genuinely did not need to exist at all.

I’m still a big fan of Newman and I’ll give any book he writes a fair shot, but this one ended up being very disappointing for what was otherwise a compelling book series.

[T.O. Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full review to follow, but this is a fitting climax to Newman's tale of an entangled world of demons, humans, their tortured immortal souls and their differing senses of honour and obligation.

It is also interesting, comparing this to Newman's previous trilogy of The Vagrant to see how the world's share themes in a way that might spill out of the authors head into a means to connect these and future works together. Stories bound together like Iain M Banks Culture series or Ursula Le Guin's Hainish series, though for Newman it seems likely that the "essence" of his story telling is what will draw his writing together.

[Wilfred Berkhof · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying ending to this trilogy. I had expected more. Newman tends to write very different fantasy stories with strange settings and unlikely characters to root for, especially in the Vagrant series. This series started off strange as well, which I really liked. But it ends in a most traditional way. Satisfying, whilst also not scratching that itch for the weird and surprising.

Anyway, can't wait for his next series!

[Della · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok end. Some things felt abrupt. I wanted to know more about this world of souleaters and the Bringers. The common enemy becomes the Scuttling Corpseman, but the eventual negotiation/battle has a somewhat unsatisfying end. What was amazing was Chandni’s transformation. I also enjoyed the truce/friendship between Sa-at and Satyendra.

[Patrick Brettell · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLUF: There's still time, but this was the best book I've read this year. An outstanding conclusion(?) to a good trilogy(?).

A bit of a review of the book and a bit of a review of the trilogy/series. In the first and second book, there were characters I wasn't interested in. That changed with this entry-- every POV character, and most on the periphery was interesting and, with the arc they've gone through in three books, fleshed out.

Some highlights:

1. The scenes with Chandni, especially the early ones, had the feel of The Labyrinth (the 1980s movie) to them. Very fun and immersive. I'd rate her as most improved character; she was my favorite by the end.

2. The book as a whole feels like the conclusion to a much longer series. I mean that as a compliment-- there were so many plotlines and issues identified and wrapped up in ways I didn't anticipate.

3. Satisfying ends all around for characters I was borderline on in earlier books-- Sa'at, Visinidra, and poor, psychotic-from-our-perspective Satyendra especially.

4. Oh-so-minor, but since I complained about it in my review of the first book: The author has ceased the use of "try and" where he means "try to". (Pet peeve, I know, and probably irrelevant to anyone reading this.)

If I have a complaint, it might be of my own making. I thought this was a trilogy, but early on, a major new plotline is opened up. I even thought, "Well, that's going to be ambitious to conclude along with everything else in one book." As I read, I started to suspect it wasn't going to be addressed, and then it was at the very end, but certainly not resolved. Is there going to be a follow-on? I don't know. If there is, and it lives up to the promise of the first three books, great-- more enjoyable reading. If not . . . Well, I'll be disappointed at no more stories in this world, but that's okay, too-- lives continue after where we put the end point of a story, and just saying "happily ever after" would be boring.

[Brian Ejike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would really give this 4.5 instead of 5 stars mostly because Rochant should've died already, long since and several times over probably.

One might say it's a testament to his genius, his ability to manipulate people, survive or whatever, but I'd say it's more the occasional/convenient incompetence of the other characters, a bit of contrivance involved each time in getting him out of situations that'd have left him dead or ended his story a lot quicker.

Other than that, I don't have much else to complain about here, the story (and the lore especially!) was great. Characters were neat too -- I liked Vasin's general progression, could hardly believe this was the same centuries-old child from the first book. I liked the ideas -- Murderkind was awesome.

I'd hoped for a cleaner ending, perhaps one where the Deathless got off their high crystal wings, got closer and made a New Deal with the Wild. Since their traditional/current policy is a pretty shit one for the roadborn, probably unsustainable and at the very least, easily disrupted as Rochant proved. All it takes is for one person, roadborn or otherwise, to make a decent deal with some Wild Name and they've got enough ammo to cause major problems. But maybe that's all for another book.

[RecursiveHaiku · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 / 5 stars rounded down

What started as a somewhat boring slog in book one ended as a series that i would not want to have missed at the end of book three.

Peter Newman has managed to flesh out a cast of incredible characters, all of which have gone through trials and tribulations and came out as their better version at the end. When i say that i will miss all of them and would LOVE for there to be a follow-up book (or even series), then it should be taken as the highest praise i can give a book short of it being live-changing.

While the ending felt a bit rushed, it still managed to pack a lot of character and story development into the last few pages without being overwhelming. We get a satisfying ending, closing almost all plot points, while still leaving room for a potential follow-up.

As is often the case, i would have loved if the epilogue would have been a bit longer, more expansive. But at some point you have to put a bow on it.

Peter, if you read this: Please keep writing books!

[Jeevan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book and the fantastic world build
But doesn't anyone else feel unsatisfied by the ending like where did lady pari go and what is she doing. When I finished the book I was in awe but then I found out that no new books has been written and felt like the introduction of the new worlds in the starting of the book and lady pari departing from this world to explore others and find out why there world was different and why the bringers had been stranded in her world for 2000 years and bring in new ones had been for nothing

[Matthew Hickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great end to the trilogy, or is it. I had assumed that this would be the final book in the trilogy, charting the stories of Vasinidra, Pari, Rochant and Chandi, but now I'm not so sure.
Well written as all three books have been, plenty of action and intrigue, but the ending rather leaves open the possibility of further books and a new storyline following Pari's mission to return the Bringers of Endless Order to their home, whilst still maintaining that which makes them deathless.

[Zyph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never finished a trilogy back to back without getting bored with the writing style of a particular author but somehow Peter Newman did it!
The writing is just very solid, consistently good and nothing caused me to break immersion or question plot decisions or something like that..

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5?

[Rory Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and a great ending as everything from the previous two books came together! Excellent

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine read. I always love Newman's characters.

[Andy Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant finale. Newman really creates amazing characters and i always take away a favourite from his books...*Lady Pari i'm looking at you* Can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

[Sofie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this trilogy, it has a grim fairytale atmosphere, intersting characters and an original setting.

[Zach Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing finish to a great trilogy!

[Adeline]

3.75

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic, I could barely put it down once I started reading. I loved the ending so much, deep inside I wish there was more!

[Scott Boxold · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series as a whole starts a bit slow but gradually builds into something very good. The world building from the start is fantastic

[James Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to a good story

[Joe Staursky · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was on par with the previous books. My biggest issue was the arbitrary introduction of a multiverse. Luckily, that part is quite limited.