Worthile conclusion to this series, the worldbuilding really did lend something special to this series and I really enoyed the characters more and more throughout the story arc. Very glad I had the chance to review this.

The third novel in the Scorched Earth series.
Picking up where BREAK THE CHAINS left off, INHERIT THE FLAME brings the series to a satisfying close. There's plenty of action, great characters, and it's all written extremely well. The cast of characters has grown over the course of the series, and the author manages to keep them all well-handled. Over three novels, I've become invested in their fates.

A really good end to a series, and one I'd definitely recommend to anyone who likes adventure-filled fantasy fiction. Recommended.

I haven't been particularly enamored with the first two books in the 'Scorched Continent' series by Megan O'Keefe but I had already requested and received this third book in the series before I had gotten through the previous books or I likely wouldn't have put in the request. However, this volume rises up just enough to make it worth the read.

Lovable rogue Detan Honding has successfully retrieved Nouli from the clutches of the empire and now they return to his ancestral home. But the city is under siege by Thratia's army. Detan convinces Nouli to help stem the tide, but the empire is also on the march to strike against Detan's home and his aunt is forced to enter in to a temporary treaty with Thratia to defend the city. Detan, meanwhile works to find a way to fight alongside Thratia while ensuring that they are on the outside of the wall when the empire battle is finished.

O'Keefe appears to have toned Detan down a bit. That or I've grown used to him. He was much less obnoxious in his attitude - less smart-ass wise-cracking and more determined. He wasn't a comic-book character finally, but more the reluctant hero.

Ripka plays a strong role in this volume and I definitely enjoyed following her exploits much more than Detan's or Nouli's in this book.

The story moved well and the different sub-plots converged nicely to finish off this series nicely.

And yet I still never really cared too much. While I understand the importance of the city and why it is strategically important and Detan would want to defend it and others would want to take it over, nothing about this story caught my interest and so this just became a very average read - nothing that I can really recommend and nothing that I'd encourage people to avoid. There were some clever ideas here, with some nice world-building in the series, but it just wasn't put together well enough to be the choice above so many other books out there.

Looking for a good book?<em> Inherit the Flame</em> by Megan E. O'Keefe is the end of the 'Scorched Continent trilogy and ends the series nicely but it doesn't help the series stand out in a world full of epic fantasy books.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The best of the trilogy. Looking back at my reviews of Steal the Sky and Break the Chains, I realize anew that I tend to be a bit hard on these books. But I consider it a form of tough love: I love this series, want it to be all that is can be, and have developed high expectations from Megan E. O'Keefe.

Inherit the Flame is a fine conclusion, wrapping up pretty much all of the threads introduced previously, and certainly giving a lot of character development (for the most part: Pelkaia is curiously underutilized). There are also new characters that fill out the already large cast in useful ways. Most of the book takes place in the independent Hond Steading, Detan's ancestral home, just as it is being oh-so-inevitably targeted for takeover by not one but two scary political forces. These forces each have their own complex motivations, and connections to our heroes/antiheroes. The fates of all the MCs hang in the balance, as well as the fates of each and every denizen of Hond Steading, and by extension the rest of the story-world.

I really enjoyed seeing how it all shakes down. I hope that O'Keefe returns to the world of the Scorched Continent, but also look forward to seeing what other new things she'll come up with next

I very much enjoyed both "Steal the Sky" and "Break the Chains." "Inherit the Flame" did not disappoint, as it continues in the same vein as its predecessors with an action-filled, entertaining continuation of the story.

I appreciated Detan's growth into responsibility - and liked that it didn't come easily (or completely). Here, he's trying to be a double agent - and to gain control over is potentially-deadly abilities. His schemes end up with him arriving back at his homestead, Hond Steading, having to face his formidable aunt with the fact that he's engaged to be married to his worst enemy - and possibly the biggest threat to his homeland.

Of course, there's more than one threat. The oasis of peace and civilization that is Hond Steading looks more likely than not to be ripped apart between them.

Fans of the first two books will find all their favorite characters here. There'll be some moments of heartbreak as well as fun - but it's a must-read if you're following the story! If you aren't - yet - I highly recommend picking up 'Steal the Sky' and getting into it.

Many thanks to Angry Robot for the review copy.

O'Keefe deftly handles a broad cast of characters to bring her trilogy to an action-packed close. As the saying goes, you can never return home... but in Detan's case, he never planned to return, and certainly not betrothed to one of his worst enemies--with the other enemies also planning to attend the not-so-blessed day. It's a great twist on the trope of 'saving the bride,' as everyone scrambled to save Detan and save the city from multiple dangers--including Detan himself, as he struggles to contain his deadly power.

The one gripe I have is that I was disoriented at first about who was who--names are a weakness of mine--so I found myself wishing for more back story to help ground me again.

This is one of the best steampunk series out there. It has such a delicious, Firefly-esque adventure vibe with lovable rogues and a vivid setting.

Inherit the Flame is the third and final volume in Megan O’Keefe’s ‘Scorched Continent’ trilogy.
The first two books were a buccaneering adventure, with airships, magic banter, and even some personal growth. They were a lot of fun to read, so I came into this conclusive part of the trilogy hoping that it was going to pay off.

The centre of the text is Hond Steading, the home of the charming and at least modestly tormented Detan, one of the main cast of previous books. The Steading, built into the side of a dormant volcano, is the centre of power for the continent, now trapped in politics and geography between a resurgent Empire, and their rebellious commodore, a woman with an iron will, and an agenda of conquest. The Steading is a thriving place, and seems, in comparison to the frontier settlements and prisons we’ve seen previously, positively metropolitan. The populace are opinionated, and have an interest in the arts. There’s public meetings in a new civic forum, where anyone can speak should they desire. But there’s a sense of fragility here as well – the Steading is a soap bubble, waiting for one of those that covet it to risk the wrath of the other, and that time I fast approaching.

Still, there’s an elaborate palace, where Detan’s family has ruled for generations, and the population has a dynamism and an energy not seen to such effect elsewhere. There’s hints of the broader picture as well; the Empire is in an abruptly expansionist phase, and if nobody is entirely certain why, the hints of what is moving that larger body politic into warfare maintains the pressure which helps drive the narrative forward. In amongst all the politics and occasional stabbing, there’s also time to look at the sensitivity to the ‘sel’ substance which produces the magical effects that we’ve seen in the world – from thundering explosions to shapeshifting. Sel is something of a mystery, to both the world of the text and the reader, but it’s one whose depths will be plumbed here.

Most of the characters are fairly familiar from their previous outings. It was lovely to see Ripka, once head of law enforcement in another city, try to get used to being a civilian again. Then there’s Detan himself, whose efforts to avoid causing calamity have moved past fear into acceptance. His desperate and often despairing attempts to gain control of himself before he destroys anyone he loves are fraught and poignant. That they’re often masked by banter which can often raise a chuckle is a benefit – even as it reveals a character papering over their own mental cracks.
We do get a little more understanding of previous antagonists here as well. There’s the Commodore, sometimes known as Throatslitter, a woman who has spent the last two books as a force of nature, capturing cities and towns for a design of her own devising. But she has her own pains and motives, and in discovering what they are, there’s the chance to grow some sympathy, as she moves into a more morally grey area. But there’s other villains here, cold-eyed pragmatists and terrible zealots – and all of them make the blood run cold.

The plot – well, it hits a few different beats, often rather well. There’s the suspenseful journey that Ripka makes as she attempts to pin down and eliminate whatever scheme the Commodore is plotting to take over Hond Steading. There’s Detan’s struggles with his power, the responsibility which comes with it, and the need to put himself in the thrall of his enemies to learn control. But there’s also the overarching narrative of conflict and control, as the Steading tries to remain whole in the face of two irresistible forces. There’s some great chases, explosive, horrifyingly grand uses of magic and cracking dialogue too.

Is it worth reading? If you’re new to the Scorched, I’d say go back to the first book in the series and give it a go. If you’re already a fan though, this is a worthy conclusion to the series, though it may leave you wanting more.