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A review by drakoulis
The Hourglass Throne by K.D. Edwards
5.0
Absolutely stunning!
The 3rd book of The Tarot Sequence lives up to the standards of its predecessors, expands the complex worldbuilding of New Atlantis, weaves together fast-paced action, traumatic events of the past, eerie murder scenes investigations and the domestic struggles of building a Court from scratch.
Rune is emotionally growing up quickly, thanks to both his new responsibilities as a member of the Arcanum and the impact his new family has on his life. He has to make more choices, and it is very obvious (it was from the start but now it's blatant) that he doesn't like the way the Arcanum runs New Atlantis. He worries about the safety of Max, Quinn, Anna, Corbie (who has a new best friend in Flynn the dinosaur!). He is more honest to himself about how he sees his mentor, Lord Tower.
His relationships with Brand and Addam remain in the heart of the story. Rune and Brand have a wonderfully written and emotional platonic relationship, and the mastery of KD Edwards balancing this with the lovely evolving romance between Rune and Addam in the story can't be appreciated enough.
One of my favourite parts of the book was when Rune decides to let Addam completely in. It was beautiful, a bit heartbreaking (because it touches Rune's past trauma) and comical (because it's Rune).
Plot-wise, the new, terrifying threat for Rune and the whole New Atlantis comes from the distant past of Atlantis, uses intimidation and manipulation in equal parts to achieve their nefarious goals, and won't hesitate to use Rune's past against him.
It's hard to write much more about both the plot and the characters without spoilers, this book is marvellous and I don't want to deprive anyone of the experience!
PS. For anyone who doesn't know, KD has written a novella (The Eidolon) from Max and Quinn's POV which will delve deeper in their side adventure during this book and will be released in the following months! Max and Quinn are two of my favourite characters, not to mention that I'm super hyped for (spoiler for the short stories:) and all of KD's extra content is very rich in worldbuilding!
The 3rd book of The Tarot Sequence lives up to the standards of its predecessors, expands the complex worldbuilding of New Atlantis, weaves together fast-paced action, traumatic events of the past, eerie murder scenes investigations and the domestic struggles of building a Court from scratch.
Rune is emotionally growing up quickly, thanks to both his new responsibilities as a member of the Arcanum and the impact his new family has on his life. He has to make more choices, and it is very obvious (it was from the start but now it's blatant) that he doesn't like the way the Arcanum runs New Atlantis. He worries about the safety of Max, Quinn, Anna, Corbie (who has a new best friend in Flynn the dinosaur!). He is more honest to himself about how he sees his mentor, Lord Tower.
His relationships with Brand and Addam remain in the heart of the story. Rune and Brand have a wonderfully written and emotional platonic relationship, and the mastery of KD Edwards balancing this with the lovely evolving romance between Rune and Addam in the story can't be appreciated enough.
One of my favourite parts of the book was when Rune decides to let Addam completely in. It was beautiful, a bit heartbreaking (because it touches Rune's past trauma) and comical (because it's Rune).
Plot-wise, the new, terrifying threat for Rune and the whole New Atlantis comes from the distant past of Atlantis, uses intimidation and manipulation in equal parts to achieve their nefarious goals, and won't hesitate to use Rune's past against him.
It's hard to write much more about both the plot and the characters without spoilers, this book is marvellous and I don't want to deprive anyone of the experience!
PS. For anyone who doesn't know, KD has written a novella (The Eidolon) from Max and Quinn's POV which will delve deeper in their side adventure during this book and will be released in the following months! Max and Quinn are two of my favourite characters, not to mention that I'm super hyped for (spoiler for the short stories: