Review: Brilliant
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 11, 2014
More threads of the brilliant tapestry of this epic are now coming into view.  By this I mean that some of the loose ends which were left by the previous two books are tucked in nicely in this book.  Even though this is just a part of the ongoing story, this book is a self-contained complete novel and worth reading by itself.Ms Sabian likes to include subtle teasers that you don't even notice until the third or fourth reading.  In the first book, Raine and Weynild meet Skye's mother when she is first pregnant with Skye.  We don't actually realize this until the second book when we learn that Skye is an only child and the daughter of Isolde.  In the second book there is a hint dropped that Skye's great grandfather is the famous Tavinter wizard, Isleif.  In the second chapter there is a conversation between Queen Halla and her advisers, seemingly a filler while they wait for Skye's arrival.  Gimle says, "Are we even certain she is the Tavinter heir?  I understand there was some question...to her claim?"  Apparently the girl's great grandmother gave birth to her grandfather a little too long after the death of her husband, and later in the book, Isleif says that Skye's great grandmother was very important to him.  That's all the hint we get, but in this third book we are given confirmation when Ingrid contacts the goddess Hel and we find that Ingrid is still jealous of Skye's great grandmother for her affair with Isleif.  We learn both the motive for Ingrid's hatred of Skye, and the confirmation of Skye's ancestry.We are treated in this third book to more interaction between Raine and Weynild with the Ha'kan heir (Dallan) and her staff (Ryka and Skye).  We get to know a couple of new and exciting characters (Syn and Jorden) and we get to learn a bit more about the aftermath of the war that was fought in the previous book.  While the Ha'kan defeated the Garmlain, it seems they didn't actually exterminate them, some are left alive to continue to serve Ingrid (the sorceress, wife of the late Chancellor, supposed mother of Inga the rapist).  And a few plot points are left hanging to encourage us to hold our breath waiting for the fourth book, The Rival's Concord.  We still don't know why the Garmlain Chancellor calls Skye's family a bloodline that needs to be wiped out, and since he's dead, we may never learn.  Unless it's just that he hates Isleif's descendents for some unknown reason.  But I didn't get the impression that he and Ingrid actually shared that much or liked each other well enough that Ingrid's jealousy over a five generation old love affair would matter that much to the late Chancellor.  And if Ingrid is not actually Inga's mother, who is?  And did Inga survive the war?  And as the late Chancellor's daughter, is she now the (defunct) head of government for whatever is left of the Garmlain?Presumably all will be revealed in future novels.As I look back over this review, I see that I have said almost nothing about the plot of the book and haven't even named the protagonist.  So, here:  yadda yadda yadda Syn, yadda yadda yadda Jorden, yadda yadda yadda, thief, yadda yadda yadda Raine and Weynild.There is no way I could do justice to Ms Sabian's exciting and complex plot in just a few words, so I will direct your attention to the Book Description.  It's another exciting and delightful episode in the Chronicles of Arianthem, leaving me personally anxiously awaiting book four.