Helen Scheuerer
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
For the past year, Althea Zoltaire has been roaming the midrealms in pursuit of the man she thought she loved, and who loved her in return. Wilder Hawthorne’s betrayal at the battle of Notos had shaken her to her core; and now, she was fast approaching the deadline etched in the Fate Stone around her neck. With only her anger fuelling her, she was determined to catch up with the fallen Warsword and make him pay for his crimes. But, was everything quiet as it seemed to be? Or would Thea find her world turned upside down again?
The third instalment in Scheuerer’s Legends of Thezmarr series, Fate and Furies sees Thea’s world expand as she roams ever further away from the fortress she grew up in as well as meet more key characters who open her mind to the true power behind the tears in the veil that surrounds the realms. With her soul still shrouded from Hawthorne’s perceived betrayal, and from the revelations about Anya – the supposed Daughter of Darkness – the reader might find themselves sympathising less with Thea than they might have done in the past books. Her stubbornness here isn’t endearing or character building, it’s sheer and utter bullheadedness. But that’s what makes Scheuerer such an excellent wordsmith; she pulls every nuance of human emotion, experience and trait into each of her leads – and makes them compelling and more real. Thea’s pain over Wilder’s behaviour is a living, breathing, visceral thing. It leaps off the page and grabs the reader by the hair and makes you understand. You might not like reading about it – but that’s the point. Thea’s companions don’t particularly like her while she’s a snarling beast bent on revenge, either. You’re not supposed to sympathise much with her – but you still find yourself rooting for her. For her to come to her senses and start asking the right questions.
Like Blood and Steel, Vows and Ruins and the standalone (but still related) Slaying the Shadow Prince, Fate and Furies is heavy in the romance department as well as the fantasy and the battles. The X-rated scenes might not be as many as the previous books, but the ones that are there are just as steamy and just as not safe for work. But, don’t let that make your mind up about this novel. It’s not just the sex, magic and fighting; it’s about the relationships which hold a person’s soul together and about forging bonds that are stronger than blood. In fact, the whole Legends of Thezmarr series, so far, has been less about the erotica, and more about the family that Thea builds around her through her gritty determination, force of nature and generous spirit. Although she believes that even her little sister barely tolerates her, she soon finds that she commands loyalty from not only Wren, but from those who she deems her friends. She believes she’s alone, but she’s surrounded by people who she’d die for, and who would gladly die for her. That is what the series is about… How those bonds, although difficult to forge, once won through Blood and Steel and through Vows and Ruins, will be as tight and as strong as Fate and Furies.
And now, with the final book in the series, Shadow and Storms, slated for later this year – I for one can not wait to see where and how Thea and Wilder’s story comes to a thrilling finale.
S. A
Fate and Furies is due for release on on 22nd February 2024. It will also be available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited.
I was sent Fate and Furies directly from Helen Scheuerer as an ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review.