Review: The Hourglass Throne by K.D. Edwards

Title: The Hourglass Throne

Series: The Tarot Sequence: Book Three

Author: K.D. Edwards

Publisher: Pyr/Simon & Schuster

Length: 425 Pages

Category: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: I have fallen madly, deeply, and irrevocably in love with this series and its characters, and I can’t recommend it strongly enough. The Tarot Sequence series is, beyond measure, my love of exceptional storytelling exemplified.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: As Rune Saint John grapples with the challenges of assuming the Sun Throne, a powerful barrier appears around New Atlantis’s famed rejuvenation center. But who could have created such formidable magic . . . what do they want from the immortality clinic . . . and what remains of the dozens trapped inside?

Though Rune and his lifelong bodyguard Brand are tasked with investigating the mysterious barrier, Rune is also busy settling into his new life at court. Claiming his father’s throne has irrevocably thrown him into the precarious world of political deception, and he must secure relationships with newfound allies in time to keep his growing found family safe. His relationship with his lover, Addam Saint Nicholas, raises additional political complications they must navigate. But he and Brand soon discover that the power behind the barrier holds a much more insidious, far-reaching threat to his family, to his people, and to the world.

Now, the rulers of New Atlantis must confront an enemy both new and ancient as the flow of time itself is drawn into the conflict. And as Rune finds himself inexorably drawn back to the fall of his father’s court and his own torture at the hands of masked conspirators, the secrets that he has long guarded will be dragged into the light—changing the Sun Throne, and New Atlantis, forever.

Review: Love is the blueprint for the Tarot Sequence series. Everything is built upon the foundation of love even though it is not what might be considered a traditional love story. There is heartache. There is pain. There is tension. There is danger. But the pendulum of K.D. Edward’s exquisite storytelling always swings towards love as its fulcrum. Its emotional compass points directly at the love of family, the love of friends, as well as romantic love. There is the love between two men who, for lack of a better description, are one soul. There is also the love between two men who are working towards something deeper and ever-lasting. Two of these men share a bond of growing friendship, and they both love and will protect the third man with their own lives. The third man would do, and has done, the same for them.

This is the story of one man’s love for the found family he has gathered to him, those he cherishes beyond all else, those who have become his greatest responsibility and profoundest joy, those who have become his closest allies, confidantes, defenders, and champions in the legacy he is rebuilding from the ashes of the former Sun Throne. The Hourglass Throne is nothing short of a revelation. It’s as breathtakingly haunting and profound as it is funny at times, the banter is utter perfection, and its sorrows are acute when Rune St. John—Lord Sun—shares more about his past with the man he loves, Addam St. Nicholas. The secret Rune has kept to himself for so long is agonizing, devastating, and it wasn’t shared easily, but it was shared out of necessity as the intense and immense threat at the hands of a formidable foe jeopardizes the very existence of everyone Rune holds dear.

So much happens in this book that it’s impossible to encompass all of it with mere superlatives. Those words would only end up feeling inadequate to the task of describing the myriad reactions I had to everything that coalesced to deliver Rune like an instrument caught in the sands of time to something that feels like a beginning more so than an ending. There are two more trilogies yet to come in this epic fantasy, which makes sense as Rune still has six scores to settle. Knowing he will not be alone, never alone, while he also assumes the task of protecting his court and family from outside threats gives readers hope when the odds seem all but stacked against him.

I have fallen madly, deeply, and irrevocably in love with this series and its characters, and I can’t recommend it strongly enough. K.D. Edwards’ conception of this world and my enduring investment in the lives of his characters not only remains unchanged but strengthens with each book, with each challenge, and with each hardship heaped upon them. The Tarot Sequence series is, beyond measure, my love of exceptional storytelling exemplified.

You can buy The Hourglass Throne here:
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