What do you think?
Rate this book
The Risen Sun #3
The Shadow's Heart
THE CONCLUSION TO K.J. TAYLOR'S "COMPELLING AND EXCITING" (SFFANZ) RISEN SUN TRILOGY
Half-breed Queen Laela Taranisäii is in more danger than ever before. Her subjects hate her, her closest allies, including her griffin, have fallen, and, most worryingly, the Night God’s immortal assassin, The Shadow That Walks, is bent upon reaping vengeance. As her enemies close in on all sides, her methods of maintaining power increase in desperation—and violence.
Laela’s half-brother, Kullervo, is supposed to be her strongest ally. But as he comes to terms with both who he is and what his sister’s reign means to the land, he begins to doubt his once strong loyalties. With the conflict drawing to its bloody close, he must decide what he’s truly prepared to fight for, a choice that could have dire consequences for all he once held dear.
Meanwhile, a new threat is lurking in the darkness, the Night God’s final, deadly pawn. It is this shadow that will decide the outcome of the war—and its power that will seal the fates of all involved…
Half-breed Queen Laela Taranisäii is in more danger than ever before. Her subjects hate her, her closest allies, including her griffin, have fallen, and, most worryingly, the Night God’s immortal assassin, The Shadow That Walks, is bent upon reaping vengeance. As her enemies close in on all sides, her methods of maintaining power increase in desperation—and violence.
Laela’s half-brother, Kullervo, is supposed to be her strongest ally. But as he comes to terms with both who he is and what his sister’s reign means to the land, he begins to doubt his once strong loyalties. With the conflict drawing to its bloody close, he must decide what he’s truly prepared to fight for, a choice that could have dire consequences for all he once held dear.
Meanwhile, a new threat is lurking in the darkness, the Night God’s final, deadly pawn. It is this shadow that will decide the outcome of the war—and its power that will seal the fates of all involved…
- GenresFantasy
464 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
160 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Taylor
27 books91 followersK.J.Taylor was born in Australia in 1986 and plans to stay alive for as long as possible. She went to Radford College and achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications at the University of Canberra, where she is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Information Studies.
She published her first work, The Land of Bad Fantasy through Scholastic when she was just 18, and went on to publish The Dark Griffin in Australia and New Zealand five years later. The Griffin’s Flight and The Griffin’s War followed in the same year, and were released in America and Canada in 2011. At the moment, she is working on the third set of books in the series, while publishing the second.
K.J.Taylor’s real first name is Katie, but not many people know what the J stands for. She collects movie soundtracks and keeps pet rats, and isn’t quite as angst-ridden as her books might suggest.
Find her on Facebook
She published her first work, The Land of Bad Fantasy through Scholastic when she was just 18, and went on to publish The Dark Griffin in Australia and New Zealand five years later. The Griffin’s Flight and The Griffin’s War followed in the same year, and were released in America and Canada in 2011. At the moment, she is working on the third set of books in the series, while publishing the second.
K.J.Taylor’s real first name is Katie, but not many people know what the J stands for. She collects movie soundtracks and keeps pet rats, and isn’t quite as angst-ridden as her books might suggest.
Find her on Facebook
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 9, 2018
For the most part, probably the most enjoyable of the series so far, though I did find the ending tapered off a little from the excitement earlier on in the book.
Kullervo remains my favourite character so far, and the one with the most depth and complexity (though sadly a lot of his growth appeared 'off-screen', as it were.) I feel Heath was underused and did not fulfil the potential the character had.
All up though, a reasonably enjoyable read.
Kullervo remains my favourite character so far, and the one with the most depth and complexity (though sadly a lot of his growth appeared 'off-screen', as it were.) I feel Heath was underused and did not fulfil the potential the character had.
All up though, a reasonably enjoyable read.
January 28, 2014
The exciting conclusion to The Risen Sun combines themes of redemption of karma into a riveting book full of action, tragedy, and displaced loyalties. The Shadow's Heart rounds out the story which began five books ago with The Dark Griffin and won't fail to enchant readers anew.
Laela, Queen of the Northerners, is struggling with the demands of rulership. She's quite independent and stubborn, but the darkness that is her father's legacy weighs heavily on her. She becomes increasingly callous and unfeeling, willing to do whatever it takes to keep her throne. The loss of her griffin, Oeka, has contributed to this, because as pushy and ambitious Oeka was, she also stabilised Laela. I think the queen's story arc is doubly tragic because of the parallels with Arennad's.
Kullervo, Laela's half-brother, is the only one who can talk some sense into her, but he's soft-hearted and innocent, wanting everyone to just get along and the killing to stop. His journey in this book makes him tougher, and I love that no matter how many times his beliefs were challenged, he never lost sight of his goal to end the hostilities. He makes some great friends along the way, something Laela could never do, and I enjoyed being in his headspace.
I've never had trouble siding with Laela and Kullervo in earlier books (as Arennad's children they had all my support) in The Shadow's Heart I found myself sympathising more and more with Caedmon, who thinks he is Arennad's rightful heir. I think a lot of this has to do with the warrior distancing himself from his mother - Saedryyn, who I will never like - and carving out a destiny for himself. His interactions with Myfina also served to humanise him.
Saeddryn, who is now the Shadow-That-Walks like Arennad was, is simply terrifying. All her humanity is gone and the only things that are left are the things I disliked about her. Her desperation for Arennad's approval, loyalty, and love gave me pause, and I know the Night God made her this way, but in the end I couldn't muster up any sympathy. I keep wondering whether the book title, The Shadow's Heart, refers to her, or Arennad, or both of them. I feel the book is more concerned with Arennad trying to atone for his actions in the first trilogy, but it's debatable.
The two Gods in the narrative, the Night God and the Sun-God Gryphus, continue to aggravate me with their selfishness and power plays which ruin the lives of innocent people. The griffins, being so unlike humans, are more difficult to talk about. Powerful and extremely arrogant, they all tended to get on my nerves at times. Skandar is an obvious favourite, but Senneck grew on me as the book went on. She's an extremely well written character, and if there was any griffin I'd like to meet, it'd be her. However, I think my feelings for her are coloured by the fact that her ambition and superiority are tempered by the end of the book.
Taylor continues to flesh out the world she created in The Dark Griffin by taking readers into Southerner territory, the islands that surround the mainland, and back to Amoran to meet Prince Akhane. It was sobering to see how the Southern cities have rebuilt after the devastating wars, and I think this section of the book allowed me to sympathise with Kullervo and join him in envisioning a world where Northerners and Southerners could live peacefully side-by-side. Of all the new places, my favourite is the Northern island where true Northerners - those untouched by Southern customs - live. It is interesting to see the Northern culture as it may have been had the Southerners not enslaved the race.
The strength of this novel is in its plotting - it is probably Taylor's best book (of the six in the set in this world). Taylor superbly navigates the motivations of each of her character and lets the consequences fall out naturally. I never felt that any plot element was contrived or poorly introduced. The writing is also strong, building tension slowly before the amazing climax. Some chapters span minutes while others months, which again allows the story to grow organically. Taylor's books have always looked at alienation, racism, and discrimination and projected the consequences on the scale of nations and armies, and I think The Shadow's Heart cleverly explores these themes without losing out on action.
Laela's story has been every bit as engaging and awesome as Arennad's. The Shadow's Heart concludes the series admirably, and I think it's an amazing accomplishment. There are enough tantalising loose ends left in this book to hint at the possibility of further books in the world, something that makes me incredibly happy. While The Risen Sun series can be read independently of The Fallen Moon books, I think the best experience of this world would come from reading the prequel trilogy first.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .
Laela, Queen of the Northerners, is struggling with the demands of rulership. She's quite independent and stubborn, but the darkness that is her father's legacy weighs heavily on her. She becomes increasingly callous and unfeeling, willing to do whatever it takes to keep her throne. The loss of her griffin, Oeka, has contributed to this, because as pushy and ambitious Oeka was, she also stabilised Laela. I think the queen's story arc is doubly tragic because of the parallels with Arennad's.
Kullervo, Laela's half-brother, is the only one who can talk some sense into her, but he's soft-hearted and innocent, wanting everyone to just get along and the killing to stop. His journey in this book makes him tougher, and I love that no matter how many times his beliefs were challenged, he never lost sight of his goal to end the hostilities. He makes some great friends along the way, something Laela could never do, and I enjoyed being in his headspace.
I've never had trouble siding with Laela and Kullervo in earlier books (as Arennad's children they had all my support) in The Shadow's Heart I found myself sympathising more and more with Caedmon, who thinks he is Arennad's rightful heir. I think a lot of this has to do with the warrior distancing himself from his mother - Saedryyn, who I will never like - and carving out a destiny for himself. His interactions with Myfina also served to humanise him.
Saeddryn, who is now the Shadow-That-Walks like Arennad was, is simply terrifying. All her humanity is gone and the only things that are left are the things I disliked about her. Her desperation for Arennad's approval, loyalty, and love gave me pause, and I know the Night God made her this way, but in the end I couldn't muster up any sympathy. I keep wondering whether the book title, The Shadow's Heart, refers to her, or Arennad, or both of them. I feel the book is more concerned with Arennad trying to atone for his actions in the first trilogy, but it's debatable.
The two Gods in the narrative, the Night God and the Sun-God Gryphus, continue to aggravate me with their selfishness and power plays which ruin the lives of innocent people. The griffins, being so unlike humans, are more difficult to talk about. Powerful and extremely arrogant, they all tended to get on my nerves at times. Skandar is an obvious favourite, but Senneck grew on me as the book went on. She's an extremely well written character, and if there was any griffin I'd like to meet, it'd be her. However, I think my feelings for her are coloured by the fact that her ambition and superiority are tempered by the end of the book.
Taylor continues to flesh out the world she created in The Dark Griffin by taking readers into Southerner territory, the islands that surround the mainland, and back to Amoran to meet Prince Akhane. It was sobering to see how the Southern cities have rebuilt after the devastating wars, and I think this section of the book allowed me to sympathise with Kullervo and join him in envisioning a world where Northerners and Southerners could live peacefully side-by-side. Of all the new places, my favourite is the Northern island where true Northerners - those untouched by Southern customs - live. It is interesting to see the Northern culture as it may have been had the Southerners not enslaved the race.
The strength of this novel is in its plotting - it is probably Taylor's best book (of the six in the set in this world). Taylor superbly navigates the motivations of each of her character and lets the consequences fall out naturally. I never felt that any plot element was contrived or poorly introduced. The writing is also strong, building tension slowly before the amazing climax. Some chapters span minutes while others months, which again allows the story to grow organically. Taylor's books have always looked at alienation, racism, and discrimination and projected the consequences on the scale of nations and armies, and I think The Shadow's Heart cleverly explores these themes without losing out on action.
Laela's story has been every bit as engaging and awesome as Arennad's. The Shadow's Heart concludes the series admirably, and I think it's an amazing accomplishment. There are enough tantalising loose ends left in this book to hint at the possibility of further books in the world, something that makes me incredibly happy. While The Risen Sun series can be read independently of The Fallen Moon books, I think the best experience of this world would come from reading the prequel trilogy first.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .
May 21, 2017
Alright, the series was wonderful. The first book of the series was my favorite and Laela was my favorite too. I hated that throughout the second and third book I couldn't figure out if she was still the same person I fell in love with in the first book or if she had been replaced by a body double or something. The pace was a little slow and didn't really lead to any climax and kinda left me confused. But it was a good trilogy and I'm honestly sad to see it end.
*WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS*
The ending honestly left me unsure, I despise Caedmon and I knew he was going to attack the south. But to completely scratch Laela off the family records, not give her a ceremonial death and have his people curse her name made me furious. I didn't like Laela's personality in this book, I thought she was a better person and I HATE that she died. Kullervo is so darn naive too and it's going to get him or others hurt.
*WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS*
The ending honestly left me unsure, I despise Caedmon and I knew he was going to attack the south. But to completely scratch Laela off the family records, not give her a ceremonial death and have his people curse her name made me furious. I didn't like Laela's personality in this book, I thought she was a better person and I HATE that she died. Kullervo is so darn naive too and it's going to get him or others hurt.
August 11, 2018
The circle closed. The ending was tragic and joyous.
June 22, 2019
I sincerely enjoyed this series The Risen Sun. Does anyone know if she plans to write more from this series. I would love to read about Kraego and Red.
July 18, 2018
I loved the first book. I loved Laela's character. The second book went downhill. I got on board with Kullervo, he was an okay addition, but he was an ADDITION. He took over the second book and Laela wasn't the lead protagonist anymore. She was what kept me holding onto the story. I hoped with the third book it would go back to being about her, but it didn't. She wasn't Laela anymore, and she definitely didn't act like she had in the first book. Book one Laela would never have become what she had, and she most definitely wouldn't take the coward's way out and kill herself.
The ending was thoroughly horrible. Maybe it's my personal opinion, but if I stay onboard through an entire trilogy, I want the protagonist to have a good ending. She didn't have to win the war, but suicide? Kullervo was the only one who got a semi-decent ending, and again, he wasn't supposed to be the main character. I feel cheated. All it did was set up for another series of books.
The ending was thoroughly horrible. Maybe it's my personal opinion, but if I stay onboard through an entire trilogy, I want the protagonist to have a good ending. She didn't have to win the war, but suicide? Kullervo was the only one who got a semi-decent ending, and again, he wasn't supposed to be the main character. I feel cheated. All it did was set up for another series of books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2021
On par with the previous book for me in terms of enjoyment. Definitely had the most plot development here, but the ending was a little... anti climactic. And, in true fashion for this series, quite dark and miserable.
Kullervo has to be the stand out character for me, although by the end, his motives and morals were starting to feel a bit muddied and all over the place, as if he didn't know himself what to do or think.
All in all, a very enjoyable read that ended up being slightly emotional by the end, and a good way to round off this second trilogy.
Kullervo has to be the stand out character for me, although by the end, his motives and morals were starting to feel a bit muddied and all over the place, as if he didn't know himself what to do or think.
All in all, a very enjoyable read that ended up being slightly emotional by the end, and a good way to round off this second trilogy.
May 18, 2017
++++
2:49pm
2:49pm
March 7, 2015
Oh wow, this book was bad! I really enjoyed the first trilogy but the second one just got worse and worse ending with this horrible book. It was so incredible boring, with the same trivial petty fighting going on (Kill the South! No kill the North!). No major advancement in the story line and queen Laela, one of the central characters was extremely selfish, dumb, petty and unlikable. It all ended completely pointlessly anyway, whether you liked the main characters or not. Characters we did like (Arenadd, Skander) were made to suffer through out the whole book and even their stories ended pointlessly. Where was the emotion I was supposed to experience during this book? Other than boredom and disgust at the terrible story line and treatment of the characters?
I'll not be reading anymore books possibly written in this series.
I'll not be reading anymore books possibly written in this series.
Read
October 10, 2014Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
January 5, 2015
I did not like the fact that after all the hardship that Laela went through she had to die just like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2015
Really enjoyed. Didn't want the story to end.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews