Alright, y'all, I'm back with the third and final book in Lindsey Pogue's Forgotten Lands series. After Dust and Shadow and Earth and Ember, I was pumped to get into this one!
While the first two novels were closely linked together, even going so far as seeing characters from the first novel to the second, this third novel was almost completely separate. There was a nod to the ending of Earth and Ember at the beginning, but for all intents and purposes, this was a completely unrelated story that takes place well after the events of the first two novels. While I found this slightly jarring, it wasn't unwelcome. Though, a part of me did want to see Jo & Clayton or Kaia & Luke with little ones running around while they explored.
That being said, this novel felt like an almost different world, but not in a bad way. What I liked most was seeing just how different this society was from Sagebrush in the prior two books.
What I also really liked here was that I had no idea who the love interest was.
At the beginning, we meet Samara and her best friend Link. Here I am thinking, cool, friends to lovers! Then, we meet Erik. Samara's sworn enemy. CUE ENEMIES TO LOVERS! But wait! There's more: a new man who works at the main character's father's right hand side, Rafael.
WHICH ONE WILL IT BE?
I can usually predict how romance arcs are going to happen, and I enjoy that, but I really enjoyed having no idea what the hell was going to happen in this novel!
Samara's father left after raiders attacked their village, leaving behind many without parents and friends. Her father, a cold a distant man to begin with, leaves his daughter to go in search of the raiders who stole his wife and unborn child. Samara even permanently marks herself as a way to get his attention, and it doesn't work.
Fast forward six years. Samara is now an adult. She's been ostracized by most of the people in the village, though she is quite formidable with an axe and always lends a hand to anyone who needs her--even her enemies.
The story picks up when she finds raiders outside of the city on a scavenging trip. From there, she flees back to the city only to discover--her father has returned. While on his travels, he destroyed the man who killed Samara's mother, took over his empire, and has been working to keep the seas raider free. He's returned for Samara who, understandably, wants nothing to do with this joker. With him, he brings his "wife" and her son Rafael as a way to show Samara about life outside of her village.
This was probably my favorite of the three stories, even though it was the most different. I thoroughly enjoyed figuring out just who Samara's love interest was and to see her struggle with her father's return. Pogue does a wonderful job exploring familial trauma in this novel. It was definitely a great read, and I highly recommend it!
Abbie