I loved this series, however the third book was such a disappointment for me and has ruined my opinion of the series overall.

This book begins sometime after the bone shard Emperor and all of the characters are not where they were left in the 2nd book so it took a while to piece together what happened. The Book opens and we find that a lot has changed with these characters and none of them for the better. Lin believes that Jovis is dead, and it is only later we see why and reads like a confusing muddle of information. The whole beginning of the book seems very disjointed and Jovis' journey just seems like such a step back and is very much downplayed as a character compared to book 2. Considering that Jovis and Mephi were one of the best things about this series it made the book less interesting.

The main objective in the book was the discovery of the Alanga swords and a lot of time was spent developing the hunt for these swords, only for it to not make a huge impact in the overall story. Granted it was an important point, but why hunt for the swords in the first place only for one single man in possession of one to matter? The whole thing was rather repetitive.

Lin's Character seemed to do a massive 180 in the last part of the book, which I found rather bizarre considering that she spends book 2 and most of book 3 fighting for what she believes in, only to roll over in the blink of an eye? I did enjoy some of the revelations in this book such as the information we receive about the Alanga, ossalen and the islands. That was such a great plot point! The ending whilst not satisfactory in terms of character development, I did enjoy as it was definitely unique.

"The Bone Shard War" is an engaging and immersive audiobook that captures the imagination of the listener from start to finish. Written by Andrea Stewart and narrated by Feodor Chin and Natalie Naudus, this audiobook is a masterpiece of world-building, character development, and storytelling.

The novel is set in an archipelago of islands ruled by an Emperor who uses bone magic to control the population. The story follows several characters, including Lin, the Emperor's daughter who is trying to uncover the truth about her father and the secrets of bone magic, Jovis, a smuggler searching for his lost wife, and Phalue, a governor's daughter who struggles with the morality of her privilege.

The narrators do an excellent job of bringing the story and characters to life. Feodor Chin portrays the male characters with depth and nuance, while Natalie Naudus captures the essence of the female characters with her expressive voice. The audiobook's pacing is just right, with the narrators able to convey the tension and suspense of the story without ever making it feel rushed.

One of the strengths of "The Bone Shard War" is its intricate world-building. Andrea Stewart has created a unique and fascinating world filled with magic, intrigue, and political machinations. The characters are also well-developed, with their motivations and struggles laid out in a way that makes them feel real and relatable.

Overall, "The Bone Shard War" is a must-listen audiobook for anyone who loves epic fantasy. It's a thrilling and thought-provoking tale that explores themes of power, identity, and family.

2.5

From the first book, I was less enthralled in this series than many of the reviewers I follow but I was intrigued enough in the world to see it through to the end. Unfortunately, I think for me the first book was the strongest. I do seem to have an unpopular opinion though.

This world is really fascinating, and I liked seeing the world expand with each book; however, I think parts of the sequels felt a little long, and I think that hindered my enjoyment because it got to the point where I didn’t feel like this book earned its length. There was a romantic relationship introduced in Book 2 that I didn’t really like (though it did start to grow on me in this book) and overall I felt like each of the characters had some sort of plot point where it took them too long to realize something that would move the plot forward. For example, <spoiler>why did it take Jovis so long to figure out a work around of the commands he was given?</spoiler>

That being said, I did overall like the arcs of each of the characters and the arc of the story, and I would recommend giving this series (or at least the first book) a shot if it sounds interesting to you!

I listened to this series on audio, which is narrated by Natalie Naudus, Feodor Chin, and Emily Woo Zeller, and I appreciate that each POV has their own narrator and liked the voices they used for each of them.

The Bone Shard War is the final book in Andrea Stewart's The Drowning Empire series. I saw the audio arc and grabbed it immediately. I re-read the first two books via audio and getting the audio arc for the third one was really good. I loved the audio narrators. Escpielly Jovis' actor was amazing. I really enjoyed it a lot. The story starts with a two-year jump. I really loved the unique bone shard magic and the worldbuilding is amazing too. In this book, we continue to explore the world. Lin travels to different islands to search for the Alanga swords. The characters were very well written and they changed throughout the story. I loved reading each storyline. But Jovis still my favorite character to read. Apart from Mephi, I adore him since the first book. I loved the depth and complexity that Andrea Stewart created. The only negative thing is I liked to learn more things from this world. Some things were left unanswered. I liked to learn more about Dion and Khalute or Alanga's powers were really interesting but there was little information throughout the book. Maybe Andrea Steward write another novel about this amazing world. Overall, it was an amazing series to read. If you like unique magic and cute animal companions you should definitely check out this series.
NetGalley and Hachette Audio for an ARC in return for my honest review.

What a wonderful ending to this epic fantasy series.
The magic system
The lore
It’s everything id want in a high fantasy sea orientated series.
There was some parts I wasn’t a huge fan of but Andrea is a new author so I am going to assume her future work will be even better written and edited. Overall the series concluded to a high point, 4 stars. Even with the multiple POV, they all have their conclusive ending and wasn’t ignored. Writing the trauma of PTSD of what Jovis went through was well done, it was action packed but they still made time to help each other.

Thank you Orbit and NetGalley for an ARC of The Bone Shard War in exchange of my honest review.

The Bone Shard War was a good conclusion to this unique fantasy series. Speaking about the series in a whole, I really loved the magic system that was introduced in the Bone Shard Daughter! This language-based system relies on well thought out words that would be engraved in bone shard and be part of constructs that would perform what the words were dictating. On the Bone Shard Emperor we had the universe expand more and there was a lot of political intrigue. In this final installment we have the aftermath of those schemings.

We still have a multi-POV book from several characters, still a lot of political intrigue, mixed with also several action scenes. I have to say that I felt a bit lost in the beginning with the time skip but I was able to catch up as the story developed. Additionally, the middle of the book had a lot of similar elements of one of the main characters chasing things and getting into complicated situations. That made me feel a a little bit bored but not enough to put down the book.
I was rewarded with the end though that felt so bittersweet.

I was also happy to see Memphis being the most adorable side-kick ever! I liked how my vision of him changed from a pet in the first book to this being that, honestly, was wiser than Jovis himself hahaha.

Overall I think this is a well rounded fantasy series that are worth your read.

With the time skip in this book it was a bit disorienting to start, I felt like I was lacking some information that may have been lost between Emperor and war, however once I got into the book I couldn't stop. With the continuation of the themes of found family, identity, sacrifice, and justice still priority in the writing if you enjoyed the first two in this trilogy you will love this book as well.

the narration is very monotone and midrange heavy, which can take you out of the story or not grab your attention right away.

Wanted to fall into this story, but really struggled. I had issues connecting to the characters and the plot. I'm positive it was a me issue not a story issue

This is a good story with good writing, but overall this whole trilogy needed to be cut way down. It was hard to stay invested because of how repetitive it all felt, especially this last book. There was a key character that was somewhat erased at the end, and that was disappointing for me. I liked it, but due to the length and repetitiveness I don’t know that I would recommend it.

I have never encountered a world with such an original and creative (and at times gross) magic system. Not just the bone shard magic, but also the mystery of the creatures called ossalen and what they mean to the world and the empire. (There are some plot twists waiting in this book for you). On top of that there are the constructs who just add to the otherworldly feeling.
In this third installment of the series, the empire is still drowning, and the war is raging. It's not easy to determine what is best for a country, despite all the good intentions.
However, Andrea Stewart knows how to write endings in a really satisfying way, so you'll come out of the trilogy with a real good feeling.
The book is MultiPOV again, and this might be my only criticism. Sadly I did not care for every POV character, so the changes took me out of the book time and again. I understand that such a vast world needs more than two characters, and all the plot lines eventually come together nicely. Still, I would have loved to spend more time with Lin and Jovis, and instead of some other POVs, rather have one from Ayesh instead, who I find very intriguing.
The audiobook is narrated very well again, with three narrators giving life to all the different characters.

4/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @hachetteus for the eARC!

This was an epic second part of the story! So happy it made me to go back to the world that was woven so intricately! The characters and plot were amazing! The narrator had a certain je ne sa quai and really brought the story to life. I can not wait to see if there will be a third part to this tale. Truly written well and was thought out superbly!

4.25
An action-packed conclusion to an amazing trilogy! (Please note that as this is the last book in the trilogy, this review will contain spoilers for the previous two books.)

First of all, I have to give the audiobook narration a 5/5. When it comes to complex, multi-POV fantasy novels, audiobooks aren't my first choice since I can get confused, however we get a different narrator for each POV and each one does a great job embodying their character. And Emily Woo Zeller, my favorite narrator, is one of them!

Now to the book itself...my main complaint is that it felt a bit drawn out. There's a lot of fighting various villains and sometimes that got a bit redundant (maybe I'm just not the biggest battle sequence fan) but I didn't get bored since we got some great reveals about the world and magic system. (This series has one of the most unique magic systems in my opinion.)

We get to see Lin struggling as an empress both internally and physically. Many factions do not want an empire and Ragan with his construct army are among them. Jovis and Mephi, his animal companion (and my favorite character of course) face their share of struggles, including being separated from Lin at the beginning of the book. I can't say much more without giving too much away, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for Andrea Stewart's next release!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for this Audio ARC!

A strong final instalment to one of the most unique fantasy series I've ever read. It took me a moment to get back into the story, the world-building is intense and I try to read series like this all at once so I don't get lost in the details. Once I became reacquainted with the characters and intricacies of the world it was full steam ahead. The tension, the plot, and the character development did not disappoint. The book was filled with high-stakes and characters grabbling with the realities of war and I loved it! Overall this series was amazing, I loved the final instalment and this will be a series I return to in the future for a re-read, it was just that good.

A strong four out of four stars for me - the narration was very good. I will share the clear plotline, clever ideas, and trustworthy character development that made this book impossible to put down to all of my patrons!

PERFECTION!!

The Bone Shard War is a slow burn that builds to a roaring conclusion as it crosses the finish line.

Stewart artfully weaves together multiple POV bouncing from island to island in a world-shifting revelation and a head-spinning final battle between our heroes and the Big Bads.

I'm a little disappointed in this book, it didn't fully capture my attention. Whether that was due to it being longer than needed, the time jump or forgetting details from the first two books I'm not sure.
The world building is wonderful and the ossalen are great side characters.
I do like that it is realistic and not everything turns out to be perfect for everyone.

This title is the third book of a trilogy. I've tried really hard to get into the story. The writing was wonderful, the descriptions were great, and I like the characters. While I love longer books, I think it could have been divided into two books. I really have nothing negative to post, I just couldn't get into the story.

I have, however, recommended the book to friends in hopes they would enjoy the storyline and be able to pull me back into the book.

I was given the opportunity to listen to this audiobook by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book!

I marathoned this series this month in preparation for a special edition going on sale next month and in honor of the final book in the trilogy's release. Because this is the third book in the series, I don't want to talk about any of what happened in any sort of detail because of potential spoilers in the other two books, but this was a decent enough conclusion of the story.

Take my opinion lightly because I went into this book a bit jaded.

First of all, it starts two years after the second book. For me already, that was a miss because a lot had occurred in those two years, and it just left me feeling a bit distanced from some characters that I had grown to care for. Another thing I loathe is when main characters are separated in a book following one where they are finally united (think The Final Strife for example). Additionally, I can't stand insta-love and connections that I don't believe in, and maybe small spoiler here, but for two characters to kiss ONE TIME and profess that they "love" one another, only to be separated for two years and NEITHER OF THEM MOVE ON AND STILL BE OBSESSED? Seems weird to me personally. I thought they were strong and great characters on their own, and they didn't need all of the pining that ensued on their adventures to keep their story fresh and interesting. Lastly, I made it quite known how much I couldn't stand Ranami in the other two books, and this is no exception. For someone who had nothing to be that entitled from the very beginning just because she slept with a governor's daughter? She's conniving and manipulative and I hate her more than any of the multitude of villains in this series.

But overall, I did like this book. I think that the second book is still the best in the series and the ending was my least favorite, but overall, I would definitely recommend.

A satisfying perfect and bittersweet end to a solid trilogy.
There's a little bit of a time jump from the end of book two to book three (about two years) so that allowed the plot to move forward quickly.
I love Mephi and Jovis! Their relationship is the best in the series. However, I did feel like it should have taken him a little bit less time to figure out a way to use his wits to outsmart his captors, rather than simple escape or brute force. I'd thought he was smarter than that especially given the time jump.

I enjoyed seeing Lin and Phalue questing together for the white sword together. Their relationship, sometimes contentious, sometimes partners, was one of my favorites.

There were some times that I felt that it could have been shorter, and there were some scenes that dragged on a bit. And we could have gotten rid of Nisong altogether. I get that she was wronged, but also she just drove me nuts with her stupid, stubborn entitlement. And Dion... so old and should be so wise... but also so stubborn and stuck in a his vengeance...

The audiobook was excellent. There are different narrators for our POV characters, and they each perform the narration well.

Thank you NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hadn't read the first two when I got approved for this so I binged them from the library and was so glad I did! Such a great story and I love the covers!