A lyrically drawn, quietly devastating fantasy of power, loyalty, and looming threats.
In the eighth installment of the Kestrel Harper Saga, Brigham places her hero at the heart of a mounting turmoil as long-quiet instincts begin to stir once more. Now a husband and father, Kavan finds his returning visions warning of a vengeful sorceress whose blood magic edges closer even as King Fraen’s forces advance toward the sovereign realm. With political alliances fracturing and Lorant’s coronation marked for violence, assassins strike and chaos erupts. Jerit, Seren, and Bhríd scramble to defend the crown while Kavan faces the sorceress in a lethal clash of power. The attack is thwarted, but the greater war has only just begun; as old forces stir and new loyalties fracture, who can say what the realm will become?
Brigham approaches the novel’s magic with an elemental, almost primordial gravity, treating it not as spectacle but as a force shaped by memory, grievance, and the remnants of long-buried history. The sorceress’s fixation on a single bloodline lends the book its mythic pulse. For Kavan, whose Sight has lain dormant for years, the return of that unwanted gift arrives in fractured glimpses, tugging him toward a threat bound to him in ways he cannot yet name. Around this rising supernatural tension, Brigham builds a political landscape straining under its own weight. Neth’s sudden hard turn toward militarization casts a long shadow across the realm, sending refugees into Rhidam with stories of disappearances and violent conscriptions.
Even within the capital, the familiar scaffolding of governance begins to slip: the Association fractures into wary factions, and the leadership that once held the city steady is no longer able to agree on the nature of the danger at its borders. Brigham does not rush these developments; instead, she lets the unease gather gradually. The novel’s strength lies in the author’s attention to human vulnerability; her world breathes, and her characters arrive layered and compelling. Lorant moves through the story with promise edged by apprehension. Jerit’s steadfast loyalty reveals more than he ever says aloud. Seren grounds them both with his calm perceptiveness. Kavan remains a man defined by weariness, resolve, and reluctant courage. Throughout, the novel asks profound questions about legacy, the burden of power, and what it means to inherit a world already shaped by the choices of others.
Readers who loved Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy and Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana will find much to savor.
Pub date December 19, 2025
ASIN B0G67GBV72
Price $10.99 (USD) Kindle edition