Final volume of the trilogy that deals with magic that destroys the ecology and also allows its practitioners to control other people with engraved bone shards. Actually tries to deal with the fact that "the most powerful magician should rule" is not a great principle, though the emperor arrives at this conclusion in a fairly abrupt manner. ( )

After finishing The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart, all I can say is wow! I had no idea how Ms. Stewart would end this fabulous series, but I knew it would be epic. She exceeded even my expectations!

In The Bone Shard War, Ms. Stewart develops a fitting end for all the characters. Before they reach their appropriate endings, though, she makes them work for them. Jovis, in particular, goes through hell and back. His pain and suffering are almost too difficult to bear; I could barely finish those sections.

After three books, I can safely say that everyone needs a Mephi as their companion. By the end of the second book, we already know that ossalen are special, but Mephi becomes a character in his own right in The Bone Shard War. He becomes Jovis' conscience and support system. Their bond grows even closer, so much so that it tears your heart apart to see them having such difficult times together.

Speaking of the ossalen, we finally learn their purpose and connections to the bone magic and the islands. I had some ideas, but Ms. Stewart shocked me with the full details. That is only one of the missing pieces to Lin's ongoing predicament. Once we finally obtain all the puzzle pieces, the action kicks up a notch, and there is a rush to the end.

As expected, Ms. Stewart's execution is perfection, and The Bone Shard War does not disappoint. As I mentioned, I am happy with how Ms. Stewart ended her saga. I will miss Jovis, Lin, and Mephi, and I will miss this world. Ms. Stewart made the entire series immersive and enjoyable. I can't wait to see what she does next! ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the 3rd (and final) book in The Drowning Empire. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: I was thrilled to get this book for review and ended up really enjoying how the series wrapped up. I struggled a bit through the beginning of this book. It wasn't bad, it was just hard to stay engaged because of all the POV switches and the long chapter length. Things really picked up in the last third of the book through and then I struggled to stop reading it!

I am not going to do any sort of synopsis here, there is just so much going on at this point in the series. The book changes POV between Lin, Jovis, Ranami, Phalue and Nisong. Having this many POVs did draw out the story quite a bit, especially at the beginning. According to my Kindle, the chapters were 20-30 minutes long in a lot of cases. This made it harder for me to read the book quickly because I would finish a long chapter and then set it aside because I didn't have time to start another long chapter.

This book did an amazing job of tying up this epic fantasy series and I loved how the ending was done. It does feel slightly rushed at the end, but I still really enjoyed how everything was concluded. I would love to read more about these characters and this world in the future. Some of the reveals here were amazing. Especially the reveals around how the islands were formed and why they were collapsing.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this series as a whole and loved how this book wrapped things up. The first book in this series remains my favorite, while the second was my least favorite. I really enjoyed the characters, world-building, and bone magic here. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what Stewart writes next. I would recommend this series to those that enjoy epic fantasy and in particular intriguing magic systems and engaging characters. ( )