The Bone Shard War is the final book in Andrea Stewart's The Drowning Empire series. 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 Orbit for an ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Orbit for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: violence, injury, body manipulation, mind control, death, body horror

"The Bone Shard War" is an absolutely stunning end to an incredible trilogy of books that started with "The Bone Shard Daughter". Here in this final installment of the series we're reunited with the characters after two years, finding them all in a very different place to where we left them. Lin, the Emperor and one of only a few bone shard magicians, may have won the great battle at the end of book two but just as quickly things are falling apart around her. Fighting to be better than the father that made her in the image of his dead wife, Lin works relentlessly to stop the Shardless Few- now led by a magician from legend returned- from destroying everything she's built alongside Phalue, who wants nothing more than to return to her wife and daughter. At the same time Lin mourns Jovis, who vanished two years ago searching for his bonded companion Mephi. It would probably have been better for Jovis if he was dead, as he's now an unwilling hostage to Ragan and Nisong (another construct made by Lin's father), passed around to commit unspeakable crimes and murders without being able to stop himself. Across the ocean, Phalue's wife Ranami tries to keep their island and daughter alive long enough under occupation for Phalue to get back to them.

This was an incredible conclusion, building in tension and powerful character moments. To see how far these characters have came from book 1 is incredible, just as the scale of the world building has only continued to grow. The themes of consent, autonomy and acknowledging your wrongs were so important, I particularly loved Jovis' storyline as he came to terms with what he'd been made into while dealing with his trauma. "The Bone Shard War" broke my heart and made me laugh, cry and smile. Andrea Stewart's debut series has been a delight from page one and I can't wait to go back and read it all again.

The Bone Shard War
The Drowning Empire #3
Fantasy
Andrea Steward
⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Bone Shard War is the third, and final, book in this series. I really enjoyed The Bone Shard Daughter and The Bone Shard Emperor so I was really excited to recieve this ARC!

As it has been a while since I read the previous books, I did find it hard to grasp what was happening, who the characters were and what they were doing. A little recap would've helped.

While I love multiple POVs, I just feel like there were too many for this book. There is so much going on that it was hard to keep track at times.

The pacing was actually very slow, which made it hard for me to completely engage with the plot as I had to put the book down frequently.

The characters are very well developed and I loved the animal companions, the os. Lin is an interesting character. While she's grown a lot since the first book, I think she still has a long way to go and a lot to learn.

The plot twists were good but some were quite predictable. That being said, the author did a great job of stirring emotions and explaining the magic system even more.

Overall this book was ok. I think it would've been better to either split this book into two or just make some changes to cut down the length.

*Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC. This is my own opinion and an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily*

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The Bone Shard War is overal a satisfying conclusion whose biggest downfall was its length.

Two years after the ending of the second book is where The Bone Shard War starts. Linn is fighting on various fronts to keep the empire together. She has to keep the governors in line, figure out how to keep the islands from drowing without giving up mining, fight off the rebellion and then there is Ragan that is still walking around free. You can imagine what a mess she's in. She's failing. Not listening to those around her because she only sees Jovis as her advisor. But he's gone.

If only Linn would listen to Phalue, this book could have been a bit shorter. Because that is its downfall. Linn who wants to keep fighting for a construct that has been failing for a long time. And she doesn't want to see that the solution has been for a while to give up her position.

That is why this book is as drawn out as it is. Why there were so many factions for so long. Especially the middle suffered from a dip as there was such a repeat of moves between the characters. You do this, I do this. Rinse and repeat.

There is a lot of characterization and character growth happening in this book. From Linn who is slowly realising she isn't the best solution, to Jovis who finds his strength again, to Sand who realizes that maybe that goal isn't what she truly wants. But that is also where I have one of my biggest complaints as well. Because everyone has their character arc and growth except for Ragan, the 'big villain'. He is as flat as a board. I grew so bored with his character and moves because there was no deepening of him. Especially the ending with him going and going felt so incredibly drawn out, I found it hard to enjoy.

Having said that, there was still a lot of things that I enjoyed. I always enjoy Jovis and his interactions with his partners in crime. Mephi was stellar as always. Phalue who was about to kill anyone standing between her and Ranami, and Ranami who was fighting so hard for the cause in the right way. The relationships with all the ollasen were great because there is always so much love there. The conclusions to all our character stories do make sense and work. They felt satisfying for the most part.

Wow! This was everything you could want from the final chapter in this wonderful and original trilogy. There were some amazing twists in this that answered questions I didn’t know I had. When I think about the character development throughout for the two main characters and the complex world building , achieved seamlessly, I think this will definitely be one of my top epic fantasy reads of 2023.

The Bone Shard War gives us the endgame to the struggle between Lin, last of the Sukai dynasty and Empress of the Phoenix Empire, and her various enemies - the Shardless Few rebels, the resurgent Alanga magicians, and numerous restive island governors. Wild cards in this contest include Jovis, Lin's onetime Captain of the Guard and lover, who has disappeared, the fanatic Alanga Ragan, and Nisong (surely one of the most hateful characters in fiction?) More welcome for me were Phalue and her wife Ranami who typify the contradictions and changing allegiances own these books. Phalue, daughter of an island governor who worked with the Shardles few and overthrew her father. Ranami, former gutter urchin who fell for Phalue and supports her in trying to make her island a better, more just place but rejects the bloodthirsty cast the Shardless have taken under it "new" leader, Dione.

If you've been reading this series - and actually there's no excuse for you if you haven't - you'll be familiar with this cast of characters and keen to see how things turn out. I can promise that The Bone Shard War is fully up to the standards of the previous parts, that some mysteries which have been there from the start - such as why islands keep sinking - are resolved and that the ending was for me both exciting and fitting.

If you haven't been reading the series, then to persuade you to go back and do it, I will say that you have a treat waiting in The Bone Shard War. The book has everything. Lin is an Empress trapped by tradition and society, wanting reform but travelled by the powers of the magnates under her, and also faced with numerous challenges and potential crises - those sinking islands, an outbreak of disease, rebellious magnates who don't respect her, and rebellions everywhere. Also her friend and lover seems to have taken up arms against her.

These are complex books, pitting duty against love, revenge against justice, order and tradition against reform and renewal, and turning on the power of secrets and lies to shape events. part of Lin's problem is simply not knowing enough - about the Alanga magic, about her own ancestors, the Sukais, and how they came to power, about the bone shard magic that she has learned to use and about the intentions of Ragan, Diana and Nisong.

The problem these three antagonists, each of them powerful, have is that they don't trust each. They are right not to. Each has quite different motives and intentions and while they move in and out of alliances with one another - always keeping an eye on the clamour of a confused mob of supporters - none ever has the advantage for long.

Aside from being an excellent and well-written character study, then, the Bone Shard War is an extremely strategic book, one in which nobody has very much time or the whole picture and we see everyone here having to make hurried and live with the consequences against a murky and shifting backdrop. Sometimes those decisions are hard to bear - there is a lot of sacrifice here - and, as I have said, sometimes duty weighs against personal desires.

Written with great verve, this is a flowing and powerful story that absorbs from the first page to the last. I'd strongly recommend.

A beautiful conclusion to the final book in The Bone Shard War.
I don’t want to give much away but again the book is well written and the words flowed perfectly.
The world building in this series is fantastic and I love how the characters are well developed and had their own stories too.
I definitely recommend this series!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Orbit Books for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have been eagerly anticipating the conclusion to this story from the moment I finished reading The Bone Shard Daughter.

I enjoyed every page of it, the bits of humour, the magic, the heartbreak and drama and embraced the odd tear I shed in the reading of it.

There's not much I can say without making a lot of huge spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the other two books but it was truly a great ending to this story.

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.

In the words of Mephi, The Bone Shard War was a very good and satisfying conclusion.

“Popularity doesn’t make a thing less valid. On the contrary, I’d argue that the book is popular because the proverbs ring true to so many.”


It’s always a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to a great fantasy series you’ve been following for a few years or more. I’ve been following Andrea Stewart’s journey for three years now. I read The Bone Shard Daughter for the first time on the first day of May 2020; I finished the book the next day. And The Bone Shard Daughter became my favorite fantasy debut of that year. Fast forward three years later, and here we are at the end of another trilogy. April 2023 is almost over, and The Drowning Empire is the first series I finished reading this year. I even reread the first book in preparation for this conclusion! I rarely do that. And I am happy with this decision. I do not think I would end up enjoying The Bone Shard War, the concluding installment of The Drowning Empire trilogy, this much without doing a reread to refresh my connection with the story, world, and characters first. I will do my best to share my thoughts about The Bone Shard War as spoiler-free as possible.

“All this talk of stories and history, and they were repeating it –actors on a stage putting on a slightly different rendition of the same play, night after night.”


The Bone Shard War started a bit unexpectedly for me. It starts with a time skip, and similar to Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett, which did the same thing in the final book of The Founders trilogy, I expect the time skip here will have a mixed reception from readers. Two years have passed since the end of The Bone Shard Emperor, and it did take me some time to adjust to this time skip decision. I have nothing against time skips in general. But in this book, initially, it felt like I missed reading an installment or a novella, and I did not think the book needed to utilize this time jump. But after reading it to its completion, I understood why Stewart decided to implement it. I cannot talk too much regarding the detail of the story in The Bone Shard War because this is the third and final book of the trilogy. However, I can safely say your investment and enjoyment of The Bone Shard War will rely a lot on the level of connection you place with the main characters. I feel this is crucial because the plot structure in the middle of the book did feel a bit repetitive. Fortunately, the themes of found family, identity, responsibility, leadership, sacrifice, and justice are heavily evident in the text. And at approximately 184,000 words, about 10,000 words longer than its predecessor, in my opinion The Bone Shard War provided a breathtaking and highly readable final 150 pages to conclude the trilogy.

“You say you’re doing this for the greater good, but how many tyrants have used that to justify the pain they’ve visited on innocents?”


One of the most pleasant surprises I had with The Bone Shard War was the satisfying and emotional ending. Although I liked Lin, Jovis, and the main characters, I never felt attached to them. That’s why I was surprised by the emotional impact the climax sequences inflicted on me. The last few chapters definitely tugged at my heartstring. Lin, Jovis, and Mephi have always taken center stage in the past two books. And that is still true in The Bone Shard War. But Stewart did a great job allocating the balance of the character’s spotlights with Phalue, Ranami, and Nisong, too, this time. In this book, I finally felt they were all the main characters of The Drowning Empire trilogy, rather than only Lin and Jovis, as in the previous two books. And I loved reading the resolution of these characters. One of the biggest reasons behind the time jump (from my analysis anyway) is to display the depth of affection or resentment all the characters have for the world and some individuals, depending on which perspective. Although I did say there were a few sections in the middle of The Bone Shard War that felt repetitive, I was rewarded by the final 150 pages. I absolutely loved the resolution of all the main characters. Also, Mephi… Actually, not just Mephi. All the ollassen (Thrana, Mephi, and Lozhi) were incredibly precious. Everyone has their own pain and struggles, and we all need individuals who care about us as affectionately as they did toward their partner. Someone who will accompany us when we make mistakes, someone who will be there with us during our journey toward redemption.

“If my good deed could be washed away by the terrible ones, then it had to work the other way. I could still wash away the terrible ones.”


With the character's journey and background throughout the trilogy, Stewart tackles other themes such as hope, privilege, and the harshness of social status. And I certainly enjoyed reading the exploration of the magic system. Stewart imbued a nice touch of creativity into the Bone Shard magic of construct and commands introduced in the first installment. Specifically, Stewart showcased just how simple and difficult it can be to navigate the unbending strength of the magic. More importantly, what I appreciate about this is how at the same time, Stewart also demonstrated the importance of our mindset as we proceed through life and struggles. If there's one thing I could add, I wished the characters would spend more time on each island before they move from one island to another so quickly, but that's more likely my preference speaking because I'm an avid fan of One Piece. If handled correctly, I think more page count to explore the intricacies of each island and the lore would have transformed the trilogy into something more epic. Stewart has the talent for it, as we can witness from the actions delivered at the end of The Bone Shard Emperor and the last 150 pages of The Bone Shard War.

“Only, I’d hoped for something different, once. And hope was a clinging, grasping thing, an ember that refused to be extinguished no matter how much sand I heaped atop of it.”


There isn't much else I can explain in detail without spoilers here. Compelling, intimate, and fulfilling in equal measure, The Bone Shard War ended The Drowning Empire trilogy emotionally. Despite a few minor issues I have with The Bone Shard War, I do love this final installment almost as much as The Bone Shard Daughter. As I said, the ending and resolution of all the main characters written here were so rewarding. It felt like the time to say goodbye to the characters and world. And I guess it IS that time. If the first trilogy by Andrea Stewart is already this well-polished, I think the potential for her next series to be superior is massive, and I am excited to find out.

“Maybe no one was a hero. Maybe I’d gotten it wrong from the beginning. Maybe there were only heroic moments and decisions and we all had to keep choosing those as best we could. When we could. I felt the brittleness in my heart firm up, the edges still there, still tangible, but a thing I could live with.”

Series Review:

The Bone Shard Daughter: 4.5/5 stars
The Bone Shard Emperor: 4/5 stars
The Bone Shard War: 4/5 stars

The Drowning Empire: 12.5/15 stars

You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel

This was a phenomenal end to the trilogy and I can now safely say that The Drowning Empire is one of my favourite series of all time.

We meet the characters two years after the battles of Gaelung. Lin, Phalue and Ranami are trying to keep the crumbling Empire and the renewed threat of the Shardless Few at bay. Moreover, Lin is trying to find the swords that can harm Alanga, before Ragan and Nisong do. I really can't say much more without spoiling the plot. With that being said, there were some jumpscares right in the beginning of the book, but after that, we were thrown right into the action.

At the heart of the book were, once again, the characters. Each one of them underwent such great development, and all of them are near and dear to my heart now, most of all Lin, Jovis and Mephi. Ranami especially also grew enormously as a leader in this book, which was great to see since she didn't stand out to me too much before. Lin also learns a lot about herself in this installment, both as a person and an Empress, as she struggles to keep the Sukai dynasty from crumbling into the Endless Sea like the islands. And, of course, we have absolutely formidable antagonists in Nisong and Ragan, who, by teaming up, became even more destructive.

My only complaint about the book is the pacing - the plot meanders a little around the middle, when Lin is searching for the swords and is getting thwarted by Dione and Ragan. It felt a bit like we were just hopping from island to island with no progression in the plot. The last quarter fully made up for that, however.

I love how Andrea Stewart continued to expand and build upon her lore and worldbuilding within the series, and this book was no exception. In this book, we finally find out why exactly the islands are sinking. Some of the revelations about this were surprising to me, although I would still say they were well foreshadowed. At the end, we of course had a great battle of truly enormous proportions, exactly as you would expect from an epic fantasy book. The very end had me crying my eyes out, finishing on a somewhat bittersweet, yet ultimately hopeful, note. I'm sure the characters and this world will stay with me for a long time after reading.

All in all, the Drowning Empire is a truly fantastic fantasy series with intricate worldbuilding and cinematic action, great for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender.

3.75*

This was a (somewhat) bittersweet ending of an amazing series. I remember reading Bone Shard Daughter 2 years ago and finishing it in a day because I loved it so much (Granted, I put off reading Bone Shard Emperor until a few days ago but anyway!).

The Bone Shard War for me is a solid ending to the series. I'm not going to pretend like I liked the ending because I didn't, but I'm glad the characters especially those I'm fond of have closures and their story wrapped up. This one didn't engage me as much as the first or even the second because I feel like some of it dragged on, but if there are anything I love from this series, they're definitely the characters. Love how strong and consistent the characters have been since the start and I enjoyed watching their arcs and development through out the series. Also I definitely stayed for Mephi through out the series<3

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit UK for the ARC!

Still reeling from the tumultuous events of the previous book, the Phoenix Empire and its adversaries are once again thrown into impossible turmoil as an ancient reckoning comes to collect. In this final chapter of The Drowning Empire, Andrea Stewart demolishes the dam trickling endless mysteries into a floodgate of maelstrom to exhilarating and devastating effect. Every secret is laid bare as the slivers of bone shard she has laid throughout the series come together to form a singular, complex, cohesive construct with a singular purpose of telling her story with all its multifaceted layers to its natural, bittersweet, satisfying end.

The Drowning Empire series has been consistently great, so the finale had a massive undertaking in not only being an equally effective line in its syntax; but also a satisfying concluding line for readers to remember the entire series by. With The Bone Shard War's release, Stewart proves herself a behemoth to be watched out for in the sci-fi/fantasy genre as she not only sticks the landing; but also indulges in some more finesse in the last outing of what has been an intense series all throughout. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for her future outings, as I have faith that they will be just as riveting.

Thank you so much Orbit for giving me a review copy of this book, and trusting me to stick with this series' run from start to finish! <3

I love The Drowning Empire series so much! When I got approved to read The Bone Shard War I didn’t realise it was part of a series and I binge read all three in 2 weeks! I’m obsessed with the characters and how they have grown as time has gone on and the stories are just so imaginative and different.
Such a nice way to tie up this last book in the series and I can’t wait for anymore from Andrea Stewart!
Thank you so much NetGalley for introducing me to such a wonderful story

The Drowning Empire is finally complete and I think this is up there as one of my favourite series

The final book is quite a lengthy finale but the continuation of great writing and great character and story development it has a satisfying ending and wraps up the trilogy well

This would be a 5 star book, however I did feel like the pacing was on the slow side and it made this book fall short of the 5 star rating

I really enjoyed the politics in this one and of course the unique magic system and the lovable companions are as strong as ever

There’s lots of reveals and twists that I think if you enjoyed the first 2 then you will also enjoy this one, even if it’s not the strongest in the series!

I received an eARC of The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart through Netgalley, thanks Orbit! This final book in the Drowning Empire trilogy just came out on April 20.

It’s hard to talk about the third book’s plot without spoiling the first two, so I won’t go into specifics. The Drowning Empire trilogy is an epic fantasy trilogy set in the Phoenix Empire, a group of islands in the Endless Sea, ruled by the Sukai dynasty. When islands start mysteriously sinking, and legendary and potentially dangerous beings might be returning, some people want to overthrow the emperor. We follow emperor’s daughter Lin, as well as many other characters, in a trilogy full of magic (an awesome magic system using bone shards), sailing (there’s a lot of boat action), and the bestest animal companions ever (protect them at all costs). The previous books had some major twists and reveals and in this finale everything comes to a boil.

We get lots of different POVs again in book 3, and Andrea Stewart always keeps me interested equally in all of the storylines that are going on, so there is never a boring POV. I did not always like everyone, especially Lin, I didn’t agree with some of her priorities and decisions, although I understand where she was coming from. But there were a couple of other characters whose development in this last book I absolutely loved. After a slightly slower book 2 with lots of politics and island-touring, the pace definitely picked up in this final book, with a clear sense of urgency throughout. There was a jaw-dropping reveal partway through that pulled the whole plot together and made me want to finish it as soon as possible. And in the end everything wrapped up in a very satisfying way.

If you haven’t started this series yet, now is the time to binge them all! Book 1 will always be my favorite of the lot, but this last one was a really good finale. 4.5 stars from me.

This is a great ending to the trilogy - action packed and emotional, and all with wonderful writing that made me wish I could annotate my copy (Guess I'll just have to annotate the one I buy!) The characters all have great arcs in this instalment, and although some things are bittersweet at the end there is still plenty of hope on the horizon. Can't recommend this series enough.

An astounding ending to a phenomenal series. The series takes the higher stakes to win the throne.

I do love how Stewart manipulates every turn events and established a solid ground to each characters.

No waste for every characters. Stewart managed to make it a holistic story for each character.

The Drowning Empire is another great addition to the fantasy world. Can't wait for another books by Ms. Stewart!

The Bone Shard War is the final book in Andrea Stewart's Drowning Empire Trilogy. You'll need to have read the preceding two books before embarking on this one.

Although this is a perfectly decent read, I found it to be the least satisfying of the series. Lin and Jovis, the main characters of the first two books, (seemed at least) to be less of a focus here. Certainly the interaction between them - such a strength of book two - was much missed. Lin's storyline also felt quite weak and unfocused to me, particularly in the first half of the book..

Despite my misgivings, this book ties up the plot threads of the trilogy nicely and is a must for anyone who has read the first two books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third and final instalment in The Drowning Empire trilogy, an epic fantasy series with a strange and unique magic system. The writing continues to be very good and I can’t fault the complexity of the world and vivid imagery conveyed. It’s about 18 months since I read the last book and it took me a while to familiarise myself with this world again, the multiple points of view, characters, politics and place names are quite mind-boggling.

As with the second book my main problem here is the pacing. It is laboriously slow and somewhat repetitive and it felt like deja vu, as if I was reading the same book again. Because of this I rapidly lost interest in the characters, the world and the magic system. In hindsight I should have finished the series at book two. At 624 pages it is a massive undertaking to complete a book you’re finding monotonous and I’ll admit to skim reading a large chunk of the book to get to the end, but at the same time I did in fact still manage to grasp what was going on. With that in mind the story could have been condensed significantly and I might not have struggled to engage quite so much.

Sadly me and this book didn’t gel and I was so disappointed. However, don’t let my review put you off. I would definitely recommend reading the first book, which is a fantastic read and then you can decide for yourselves whether to continue…..

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC via Netgalley

The Bone Shard War is the third book in the Drowning Empire trilogy. This book picks up two years after the events of The Bone Shard Emperor. Different factions war for power, all for different reasons and Stewart manages to show them all as genuine and motivating. The characters continue to be developed in the first two-thirds of this book. However, I found some characters made questionable decisions. The world-building continues to be strong as played out through both politics and war. All of the world-building is established throughout the first two books. The writing is accessible and the storylines remain engaging. The plot reveals are foreshadowed throughout the first two books without being too obvious. Although the pacing in the first third of Bone Shard War is a little slower than the previous volumes. There are some good themes explored throughout the trilogy, especially, love, grief, and power, which I felt were all well done.

This is a fitting ending to an enjoyable trilogy. My thanks to both Orbit Books and NetGalley for a free e-book in exchange for a fair and honest review.