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The Crown's Valor
To get what you want, you have to open your hands and lose what you already had.
With Ceraleo's armies now face-to-face with the armies of the Fane, Ensula summons the one person who knows the ways of the Fane better than anyone—Adrik.
When Adrik receives the summons, he is leery at first. After all, he was banished from Ceraleo on the pain of death, but he cannot ignore Ensula. He never could tell her 'no'.
As the two come together once more, old feelings are rekindled, but they are in the middle of a war. Adrik lends Ensula his expert knowledge of the Fane to persuade the Fane that war with Ceraleo is not in their best interest.
However, the Fane does not submit so easily. Every move is calculated, and there is no risk too great for them to take.
Will Ensula finally be rid of the Fane, or will she be dragged down into a darker path?
Will Adrik stand with her or turn against her?
'The Crown’s Valor' is the fourth book in the cunning fantasy series, The Hand of Sorrow. If you like medieval warfare mixed with magic, lovers reunited once more, and difficult decisions have to be made, you will want to pick up the fourth installation of Kelly Blanchard and Matthew Dale's captivating series.
With Ceraleo's armies now face-to-face with the armies of the Fane, Ensula summons the one person who knows the ways of the Fane better than anyone—Adrik.
When Adrik receives the summons, he is leery at first. After all, he was banished from Ceraleo on the pain of death, but he cannot ignore Ensula. He never could tell her 'no'.
As the two come together once more, old feelings are rekindled, but they are in the middle of a war. Adrik lends Ensula his expert knowledge of the Fane to persuade the Fane that war with Ceraleo is not in their best interest.
However, the Fane does not submit so easily. Every move is calculated, and there is no risk too great for them to take.
Will Ensula finally be rid of the Fane, or will she be dragged down into a darker path?
Will Adrik stand with her or turn against her?
'The Crown’s Valor' is the fourth book in the cunning fantasy series, The Hand of Sorrow. If you like medieval warfare mixed with magic, lovers reunited once more, and difficult decisions have to be made, you will want to pick up the fourth installation of Kelly Blanchard and Matthew Dale's captivating series.
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About the author
Kelly Blanchard
27 books132 followersKnown as The Muse within her writing circle, Kelly Blanchard first became serious about writing at age twelve and worked hard to learn and fully comprehend the numerous elements of writing. She tutored and assisted teaching in college while she studied for her degree in English. After graduation she continued tutoring children and even taught several classes. Now she’s established an online community to assist fellow writers in understanding their craft.
Outside of writing, Kelly enjoys baking her world famous chocolate chip cookies, and she takes great pleasure in the company of her two cats and her Doberman Pinscher. From a family of five sisters and four brothers, she uses her experience with the family dynamic in her writing. She also practices Martial Arts, fencing, and archery—all important knowledge to have in order to write more accurately.
Writing and stories are important to Kelly. They are a reflection of reality, and she tries to capture that reflection in a way that sparks the imagination even if it means bending a few rules and blending several genres.
Outside of writing, Kelly enjoys baking her world famous chocolate chip cookies, and she takes great pleasure in the company of her two cats and her Doberman Pinscher. From a family of five sisters and four brothers, she uses her experience with the family dynamic in her writing. She also practices Martial Arts, fencing, and archery—all important knowledge to have in order to write more accurately.
Writing and stories are important to Kelly. They are a reflection of reality, and she tries to capture that reflection in a way that sparks the imagination even if it means bending a few rules and blending several genres.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 31, 2025
Matthew and Kelly continue to deliver a great mix of political intrigue, fantasy, a love story, and religious war in this penultimate entry in the series. There were two things that stood out specifically though.
1) The way that this really felt like the culmination of the war that has been building since the series started - Queen Ensula truly feels like she's fully come into her own as a leader and we see how that continues to impact everyone around her in following her example. The Fane continue to be an incredible foil spearheaded by Danroth as we march towards the final book. This though felt like the culmination of the war itself but with plenty of reason to understand that there's still at least one major battle left before the dust settles.
2) Since this series takes place before Kelly Blanchard's other series, The Chronicles of Lorrek, it has been interesting to see the connections and how the stage has been set for events the next generation will have to deal with. With this being so close to the end of this series, it was an absolute delight to see a lot of side characters start to be set fully on the path that they are on in the other series. I just really appreciated the number of connections made that help tie the two series into a cohesive whole.
Given where this book leaves off, I can't wait to see how it all wraps up.
1) The way that this really felt like the culmination of the war that has been building since the series started - Queen Ensula truly feels like she's fully come into her own as a leader and we see how that continues to impact everyone around her in following her example. The Fane continue to be an incredible foil spearheaded by Danroth as we march towards the final book. This though felt like the culmination of the war itself but with plenty of reason to understand that there's still at least one major battle left before the dust settles.
2) Since this series takes place before Kelly Blanchard's other series, The Chronicles of Lorrek, it has been interesting to see the connections and how the stage has been set for events the next generation will have to deal with. With this being so close to the end of this series, it was an absolute delight to see a lot of side characters start to be set fully on the path that they are on in the other series. I just really appreciated the number of connections made that help tie the two series into a cohesive whole.
Given where this book leaves off, I can't wait to see how it all wraps up.
May 11, 2022
I enjoy getting further into a series, because it means I can explore the world more with characters I get to know better and better every chapter. Such it was with the latest instalment of Kelly Blanchard and Matthew Dale’s Hand of Sorrow series.
1. Thoughts on the plot
This book is where the previous events of the series really start coming together. Ensula is leading her armies against the tyrannical forces of the Fane and Adrik is called in to help her. They have a great deal of work ahead of them, though, and things only get more complicated as the book goes on.
While there is a very lovely amount of drama in this book, it felt a little…predictable. I could tell pretty much exactly where the story was going to go. Granted, for me, there are only a few ways a fantasy novel featuring an actual war can go, which is why I don’t often read and enjoy military fantasy fiction. I liked the zooming in on the individual characters and their interactions rather than the broad strokes of the battles, but even that felt a little predictable.
2. Thoughts on the characters
These characters have been great throughout the series. I think, out of all the characters in this world, that Ensula and Adrik are some of the most complex, which is quite impressive. However, in this book, they felt almost flat. I know that their interactions were meant to follow a prescribed route, meant to line up with certain facts from the Chronicles of Lorrek series, but it felt like the authors were trying too hard to have the characters follow that route, in spite of every obstacle that they placed in the way prior. I get it, I do, and if it were a different genre or done by different authors, I doubt I would have noticed the somewhat flat interactions. But from these two authors, it was a little disappointing.
3. Favourite part
Sindric and the dragon. :)
4. Critique
I think the biggest reason that this book felt a little flat to me was that the author parts did not mesh up the way they did in previous books. It was very obvious to me where one author’s voice ended and the other’s began, and the transition was very jarring. Again, it felt like they were just following the prescribed route that had been laid down in CoL, which limited the chance for exploration.
Overall, I did like The Crown’s Valor, but I think it didn’t quite match up with the quality of the previous books. It was a good book, and I think it will lead into a very interesting fifth book, but I was a little bummed by the predictability.
1. Thoughts on the plot
This book is where the previous events of the series really start coming together. Ensula is leading her armies against the tyrannical forces of the Fane and Adrik is called in to help her. They have a great deal of work ahead of them, though, and things only get more complicated as the book goes on.
While there is a very lovely amount of drama in this book, it felt a little…predictable. I could tell pretty much exactly where the story was going to go. Granted, for me, there are only a few ways a fantasy novel featuring an actual war can go, which is why I don’t often read and enjoy military fantasy fiction. I liked the zooming in on the individual characters and their interactions rather than the broad strokes of the battles, but even that felt a little predictable.
2. Thoughts on the characters
These characters have been great throughout the series. I think, out of all the characters in this world, that Ensula and Adrik are some of the most complex, which is quite impressive. However, in this book, they felt almost flat. I know that their interactions were meant to follow a prescribed route, meant to line up with certain facts from the Chronicles of Lorrek series, but it felt like the authors were trying too hard to have the characters follow that route, in spite of every obstacle that they placed in the way prior. I get it, I do, and if it were a different genre or done by different authors, I doubt I would have noticed the somewhat flat interactions. But from these two authors, it was a little disappointing.
3. Favourite part
Sindric and the dragon. :)
4. Critique
I think the biggest reason that this book felt a little flat to me was that the author parts did not mesh up the way they did in previous books. It was very obvious to me where one author’s voice ended and the other’s began, and the transition was very jarring. Again, it felt like they were just following the prescribed route that had been laid down in CoL, which limited the chance for exploration.
Overall, I did like The Crown’s Valor, but I think it didn’t quite match up with the quality of the previous books. It was a good book, and I think it will lead into a very interesting fifth book, but I was a little bummed by the predictability.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews