The Bloodsworn brings to a conclusion the Bloodbound series by Erin Lindsey and is a tense and action packed ride to the final gate post.  Reading the last book in a series you’ve enjoyed is always sort of bittersweet.  Part of you desperately wants to rush headlong into the story to see how it all ends but part of you just wants the series to go on a little longer.  Then of course you have that problem, when reviewing the last book in series, of not giving anything away!

So, all that being said here goes…with, of course, a quick customary warning that this review may contain spoilers for the previous two books.

The Bloodsworn gets off to an immediate start picking up where Bloodforged left off with a rather jaw dropping revelation about The King of Alden, Erik White.  His closest family and friends are forced to come up with a desperate plan that involves secreting Eric away to prevent news of his ‘condition’ from leaking out.  Why is this plan desperate??  Well, Erik hasn’t helped to form the plan and the main thrust of the plan involves abducting and locking him away in his own kingdom, against his will, which is basically treason.  On top of this Liam is placed in the dubious position of taking up the reins and making excuses for Erik’s absence during a period of time when, with war looming, he is needed more than ever.  We have a suspicious court and a proxy king living on his nerves over a plan with little chance of success, execution hanging over his head and on top of that he’s frantic with worry about his wife Alix.  Alix meanwhile is about to sneak behind enemy lines looking for a remedy to the situation. The clock is ticking, she has to find a needle in a haystack and all the while she knows that if anything unravels back at home Liam could be facing execution. To make the tension even worse the two of them parted on bad terms.

The three main characters, Alix, Liam and Erik are split up for most of the book and this leads to some very intriguing storylines.  As usual Alix is rushing headlong into the fray and facing impossible danger.  Along the way she visits her brother, General Rig for advice and as a result winds up taking his lover Vel along for the ride, which of course adds another dimension of danger as Vel is a Priestess not a warrior!  Liam is forced into a position where he really must overcome his own self doubt and step out from the shadow of his big brother.  This is a time of war and the people need somebody to make sound decisions and to act with confidence and belief.  Liam has his work cut out of course because half the court already dislike him which leads to a lonely position – in fairness he finally gets a real taste of life in Erik’s shoes.  Erik meanwhile is far from absent from the plot.  Locked away he feels betrayed and thoughts of revenge dominate his waking moments.  His story takes a very dramatic change of course that was quite fascinating.

On top of all of this, lets not forget we have the enemy on the doorstop preparing for war, we have an underground movement of renegades who have their own agenda.  We have General Rig holding the frontline, undermanned and weary and we have a traitor in his midst.  There really is plenty going on in this final story – and to be honest I’m keeping a couple of things back to maintain the mystery.

What I particularly enjoyed about this whole series is the characters and their development.  It’s been wonderful and emotional reading about their exploits. Yes, of course, there’s a great plot, a wonderful historical setting and no end of action but the characters really pulled on my emotional strings – I think even more so in this book than the previous two.  Strangely, and in spite of the fact that at the back of my mind I expected the author to give us a feel good ending, I became oddly emotional during the final stage of the book, probably because of the overwhelming odds that everyone faced and also because a couple of the characters really do get put through the wringer!  As it is I think that the author has given us a perfect ending. The characters grow and all have moments of revelation but on top of that they remain true to themselves which I really like.  And, I think the conclusion still leaves a couple of very tantalising threads for further stories from both Erik and Rig – and I for one would certainly welcome more from both of them.

A winning series with a very satisfying conclusion.