The Risen City

This was a fantastic conclusion to a wonderful trilogy! I really enjoyed all the subplots and getting to reacquaint myself with all the different characters.

Character development was fairly strong, Isabelle Steiger does a wonderful job ensuring that the characters each have a distinct personality and motivation. My one criticism is that there are so many characters it really was hard to keep track of who was where and doing what. There was a character list and summary at the beginning of the book, and I was grateful to have that reference.

The world building is wonderful - descriptions and each country's history keep the reader in the world

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

I haven't finished reading so I don't know if the author sticks the landing yet, but am giving five stars on the basis of the previous two books. I'm sorry this trilogy hasn't gotten more attention from fantasy readers, because it deserves to be much better known than it seems to be! I suspect the reason for that is a combination of not being published by a genre imprint, never being released in trade paperback (as a reader, I know I wouldn't personally buy a new-to-me series with little to no word of mouth around it in hardcover more than six years after it first came out), and the 2-3 year gaps between installments. Regardless, I loved the first two and assuming the series ends strong I will definitely keep recommending it to readers, especially fans of Samantha Shannon's THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and similar titles.

I have been provided with a review copy of The Risen City from NetGalley for an impartial review. This is the third book in the brand-new Paths of Lantistyne series and I just loved getting to reenter this amazing world. I just really enjoyed this story and I just didn’t want it to end. I just lost myself in and I just couldn’t get enough of these interesting characters. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

The Risen City returns to Lantistyne amidst numerous challenging political battles. I appreciated the character guide to refresh my memory at the beginning of this book. You absolutely should read the first two books before picking up The Risen City. While I usually give a bit of a recap at the beginning of my reviews, I would recommend reading the official synopsis for a refresher.

The Risen City is a delightful high fantasy read. There is a truly impressive ensemble cast in this book, as characters from every level in the nation are incorporated into the story. At times this was difficult to follow, as there were so many people to keep track of efficiently. The characters have come so far from book one and Steiger’s writing has grown as well. From the royals, the thieves, the guards, the exiles, the betrayed etc, readers will not struggle to find at least one character who they are interested in seeing through to the finale. There is subtle queer rep, though romance is not a focus in these books; which I honestly think makes sense. It would be too much to include into an already action-packed book!

While there is still a good amount of telling not showing, Steiger navigates extremely tricky political situations and battles with ease. Her characters tend to be filled with honor, strict morals, and fighting for a cause that they are willing to risk it all for. This create compelling characters, sky-high stakes and tense politics. The Risen City is the perfect book for readers who seek complex writing that challenges them to unravel chaotic politics. I would recommend it for fans of Game of Thrones and Jenn Lyons. The Risen City releases on December 20, 2022. Thank you so much to Isabelle Steiger, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Complex story / new worlds - war.. difficult to describe but if this book is your style you’ll love it - I give all books I like 3 stars

The Risen City by Isabelle Steiger
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The Risen City is the third and final book in the Paths of Lantistyne series. It continues the story of multiple characters who live on the continent of Lantistyne, most of whom are working to keep Imperator Elgar from succeeding in his plans to conquer the whole continent.
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This was an excellent conclusion to the series and I’m very glad that I read it.
It’s hard to review the last book in a series without spoiling anything, but I’ll give it a try.
As with most stories of the fantasy genre, there are many characters. The author does a great job with helping to remind you who everyone is and where they are at in their part of the story in the beginning of Risen City. I had no trouble keeping everyone straight.
I enjoyed all of the history in this world. Learning about the previous kingdoms and rulers was very interesting and I was enthralled.
I really loved Arianrod’s character and was sooooo happy with her storyline in this book, no spoilers but I was stressed for a bit. 😅
I think if I could change anything it would be more of Roger, I really liked his charcter, he was too cool. I told myself that one of my hopes for the end of the story was for Roger and another character to meet and be fascinated with each and then be penpals. I was quite pleased with the end.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent series, great characters, this series has fantastic reread potential.

I am reviewing the entire series because I struggled through book one but was very glad that I continued the series because I really enjoyed books 2 and 3. I normally DNF books that I am struggling through but I really enjoyed the world building in this one and the writing is lovely. The issue I ran into in book one was that there were far too many POV's. While there are often a lot of POV's in fantasy books this one had too many too early, which meant I didn't care about most of them. I will also note that this is a series where you immediately need the next book because everything is left so open ended. Books 2 and 3 were very well done. The characters were far more fleshed out and had a lot more depth and likeability. I loved the world building, the intrigue and the writing. If you're a fan of fantasies this is a series worth checking out!

The Risen City by Isabelle Steiger takes the proverbial cake for me. Paths of Lantistyne is a sweeping epic fantasy trilogy that has sadly drawn to it conclusion. But ohhhh was it utterly satisfying.

I appreciated how Steiger sets the stage at the beginning of each book with settings and the characters. Having such an intricately woven cast of characters can make it difficult to recall where each one left off. Steiger effortlessly brings you back into each subplot and character happening.

I'm not one for politics in my books but this is so well done that even I was riveted for the next move. Its seriously one of the most well rounded trilogies I've read on a long time. It's chonky too!

Like I mentioned with the previos two,
this is told from multiple POVs from rulers to common folk. The world building is excellent and easy to follow and not once did I feel this dragged. These will soon be gracing my shelves for future rereads!

Thank you St Martins Press for the gifted digital copies! You've given me a new author to call a favorite! True rating 4.5/5.

The Paths of Lantistyne trilogy by Isabelle Steiger is a fantastic series that ends with a solid conclusion. Steiger does a great job tying up loose ends and giving the reader a satisfying ending. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a well-written fantasy adventure.

Overall I enjoyed the story, it was interesting and ambitious. I read the series fairly quickly but I actually think this would be great for when you want to really linger over a book. It is such a big world and there are so many characters that it lends itself well to being read over a longer bit of time rather than devoured quickly.

Seren was by far my favorite out of the MCs and I feel like she was the most developed character out of all of them. The struggles with the voice/tone of the writing being a bit inconsistent in the first book are definitely fully resolved by this one and it feels much more cohesive now. For all the buildup though, I felt like the conclusion was a little…underwhelming. It was ok, I felt like everything was explained and everyone’s individual arcs were wrapped up. it just wasn’t quite as satisfying as I would have liked. But overall, I did enjoy it and I would be interested in future books by the author.

I really enjoyed this book, from the moment that I started reading I knew that I was in for something special. It moves along at a pace that is perfect for the flow of this story. The characters are amazing and you feel as though you have known them forever and you want to be there for them, no matter what happens. This book is a must read that needs to be on your TBR list, no doubt about it.

The Risen City by Isabelle Steiger is the third, and final book, in the Paths of Lantistyne, and Steiger does a fantastic job tying up loose ends and giving the reader a solid conclusion.

If you read fantasy you know that there are so many characters and side stories that a reviewer can’t really go into it all if they want to keep any surprises. Plus since this is the last book in the series, I really don’t want to give any spoilers away.

I appreciated that Steiger has a list of characters at the beginning to reacquaint the reader with who everyone is, and Steiger is able to seamlessly bring the reader back into the story and her wonderful world building. Now that the story is finished, I know I’ll go back to them in a few years and read them one after the other to be able to dive more into various details that I may have missed having read them so many months apart… but that is one of the wonderful things about Fantasy series, if they are good then the reader wants to go back and read them again.

I do wish the Paths of Lantistyne got more recognition since I can see a lot of readers (and viewers if they were to make this into a TV show) enjoying it!