A satisfying ending to the Witch of Empire series
This is the end of a good and unique series. This series is alt-history/urban fantasy. It is pretty hardcore urban fantasy, with one of the better magic systems I’ve read in a while, so I would recommend this series more towards big fantasy and paranormal fans. If you are not really a fan of those genres, or just dipping your toe in since it is Halloween time, this might not be the series for you.
It is very important to mention that these books HAVE TO BE READ IN ORDER. Sorry, I know caps are annoying but I can’t imagine someone jumping into this series, by reading this final book first, and having any idea at all what is going on. It only took four years to finish this three-book series, but there is so much going on, all these different connections and threads, that it took me a while to remember half of what I needed to while reading this installment. If I was a bit confused having read all the books, I think it would be impossible if someone read these out of order. I’m actually thinking of re-reading this whole series, maybe next year, so I can read them all in a row since I know I missed things by not completely remembering.
There is a ton going on in this series but the basic is a world filled with witches, demons, vampires, and more. It is an alt-history of what the world would be like if there had been no American independence from the British Empire and that magic was everywhere. Sully, a witch, is a top agent who solves paranormal crimes and anything else the British Empire needs when it doesn’t want to get its hands dirty.
This was the book that finally tied up all the loose ends that had happened in the series. We find out what will finally become of Sully, Marie, their friends and Sully’s enemies, this book was the closure I think that fans of this series were waiting for. I want to be very careful not to give anything away, but I will say that I found the ending satisfying and was happy with it.
One issue I had in the first book was I thought that Sully started out almost in that predatory lesbian trope going after younger women. Luckily, that didn’t really last as Sully soon wound up in drama with her on-again, off-again vampire girlfriend Marie, and that relationship changed and grew in all three books. In this final book, to tie up some loose ends, there were some time jumps -flashback-type things, in some chapters. I’m not crazy about that choice, but it filled in the blanks for certain storylines for us readers. One of the scenes was a flashback between Sully and Marie, and I hated it. Yes, Sully is an asshole, but she is a loveable asshole and this scene didn’t fit in my opinion. It felt to me that Penman forgot that he was writing a main female character which was a real shame since it did affect my enjoyment which lowered my finale rating.
TLDR: This is the finale book, and a satisfying ending, to the Witch of Empire series. It ties up all the loose ends and questions we as readers might have had. I cannot stress enough how important it is to read this series in order as it has so many connecting plotlines. This series is not perfect, and has a few issues, but it is a very unique alt-history /urban fantasy world with a great magic system. This is pretty intense urban fantasy so I would recommend this series to more hardcore urban fantasy and paranormal fans. 4 stars.
A copy was given to me for a review.
