I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this series, Darien and Shiang, although felt that there was so much more to be explained about all the wondrous things: the powerful stones held by the ruling families of Darien, the few individuals with special abilities, and how the geography might or might not fit with our world as their history. Alas, the series closes out with few answers – and yet it’s still one hell of a ride!

The second book threw me a little, switching cities and focus (at least to begin with), so one of the things I loved here was seeing all those threads from the first and second books pulled together. Truly, this trilogy is meant to be read as a whole, not individual chapters.

We’re back in Darien for the finale, and a new neighbouring king looking to make a trade deal – or, is that really what’s going on? As names start to feel familiar from the prologue, we’re left to wonder just what was being guarded by a priest.

There are a few victories and a few heartbreaking defeats as we follow our band of misfits one last time. It might have been nice to learn more about all the ideas, but perhaps it’s all best shrouded in mystery as we enjoy the series’ final battles.

Start with Darien – but do start!

The Sword Saint was a solid ending to the Empire of Salt series.

I suppose it’s almost expected that sequels don’t carry the same allure as the first in a series, and unfortunately I feel the same applies to this series. I thoroughly enjoyed Darien, but my enthusiasm waned through the next two books. That’s not to say the books weren’t enjoyable, but for me they lacked the originality and the ‘unknown’ factor that made the first book so great.

Thanks NetGalley and Penguin UK for a review copy

I've really enjoyed the Empire of Salt trilogy. Darien was a fast-paced adventure filled with interesting magics, Shiang was a slow build to a whirlwind battle. The Sword Saint felt very similar to Shiang, but this time Iggulden brings back some of the stars of the first book, having them team up with the Sword Saint and his sidekicks to stop another attack against Darien.

I really enjoyed the 'protect the city!' format as Iggulden does a great job of writing battles. As in the first two books, a substantial portion of The Sword Saint is focused on a giant battle, and it doesn't get boring while you're reading it. I am a little disappointed that all three books use the same plot, however, as it's feeling a little formulaic by now.

The big issue for me in this finale is that we don't dig any deeper into the magic in this world. Darien set up a fantastic world with unusual kinds of magic that were simple to understand but with wide application and little notion of where it came from. Why do some people have knacks and others don't? Where did all these powerful stones come from? Shiang deepened that with a creepy afterlife and a horrifying application of the stone's power.

The Sword Saint adds little to the world and doesn't answer those questions. We get some magic very similar to that we've already seen, and a creepy shadow that's brimming with questions we never get an answer to. I wasn't looking for a deep breakdown of the entire magic system, but I would've liked some hint of where the power comes from. I would also have liked to see the magic more cleverly used in this final book, because really we just witnessed the same things from the previous books used against a different enemy. For a trilogy that began with such promise and intrigue and multi-threaded plotting it was definitely a let down, even if it wasn't actually a bad book.

It's worth a read and I enjoyed my time with The Sword Saint but it won't be going on my favourite books shelf.

The Sword Saint is the final book in the trilogy about the city of Darien. In some ways I feel this book doesn't quite do justice to such great potential. Darien was engaging magical and swept me off my feet. Shiang came at the story from a different angle, more measured, more sinister but it drew you in. The Sword Saint for me, didn't quite hit the mark. There were parts that were slow and plodding, parts that were rushed.

There were plenty of great things about this book, that mean that everyone should still read it and read the whole trilogy. I loved that so many of the original characters were brought back, it was one of my biggest criticisms of Shiang, that these characters had been created and not expanded further. The characters steal your heart, and they're worth getting to know. But, even in this book they had so much more potential. I think I was left wanting more.

I have questions! And not the good kind of questions such as "what happens next", I have genuine questions that were never answered that just come a little frustrating. It needed to flow better, be more complete. I think I just wanted this to live up to the potential from Darien, I just think I wanted a little bit more magic.

I’ve enjoyed Igguldon’s foray into fantasy but I think for the most part I’ve preferred his historical fiction. The Sword Saint closes the trilogy begun with Darian and the plot falls into one of those epic fantasy battles which is so familiar to fans of the genre. Nothing wrong with that and Igguldon writes it well. There just wasn’t enough new here for me to be fully engaged. I could have done with a bit more deep characterisation. But this is a gripping, fast paced read and if you like fantasy that primarily entertains, you’ll enjoy this.

Final part of fantasy series with plenty of action and a major battle – engaging stuff

Following on from “Shiang”, this novel brings together the various elements from the previous two books. The king of Feal launches an attack against Darien and Tellius, Hondo, Vic Deeds, Nancy, Elias, Bosin and others all get involved in trying to save the city. There's plenty of inter-action between the main characters and a few new interesting ones are introduced. The plot moves along at a good steady pace and this volume provides a fitting ending to this trilogy except.. it ends with a prologue where I would have liked an epilogue to find out what happens to the remaining major characters. However that is a minor gripe and I really enjoyed the whole series. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Top notch fantasy, top notch characters, world building ... in fact pretty much top notch all round. A thoroughly enjoyable series, this episode concentrates on bringing together the killing team that is Hondo, Bosin, Elias, Vic Deeds, Taeshin and Nancy as Darien prepares for war. The action is big, bold and ever present, as it has been throughout the Empire of Salt trilogy.

I would have given 5 stars however the ending was quite abrupt which wasn’t in keeping with the rest of the book.

Highly recommended book (& series), thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A young Prince has arrived in Darien seeking a trade deal for his King. Just as the Council are to vote, one of the city's masters is murdered, and he was known to be against such a deal. Speaker Tellius suspects the young Prince is involved in the murder and could be part of a bigger scheme.
Meanwhile a King waits with his army to bring war to Darien.
Fabulous book three in the Empire of Salt series. I felt the ending might have been a wee bit rushed but apart from that, I've loved them all.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Wow! Fast paced and brought the trilogy to an end in an epic way. Thoroughly enjoyed this read. It has all the elements of a battle torn fantasy, including that essential element of magic and mystery. I found myself on the edge of my seat, on more than one occasion. A real 5 star read.