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The Empirium series is a solid 1,700 pages of intense action — and plenty of darkness. Rielle, whom her people hoped would be the Sun Queen but who turned out to be the Blood Queen, left her beloved husband, King Audric, at the end of the previous book, Kingsbane, to be with the evil angel Corien, who she thinks is the only being who can really understand her. She becomes extremely powerful, connecting with the Empirium and exploring the endless magic she can wield. Meanwhile, Audric and Ludivine and others who love her in Celdaria are trying to find her to bring her home, to somehow repair the damage that has been done to the Gate, and try to stop Corien’s horrible plans.
A thousand years in the future, Eliana has been captured by Corien, who is torturing her with the goal to get her to help Simon to take him back in time to stop Rielle from killing herself (which happened at the very beginning of Furyborn). He is absolutely fixated on Rielle, even as he is intent on holding on to his evil reign over humans. Eliana endures untold pain at the hands of Corien, but finally there is hope when the Prophet, spoken of in the previous books, reveals themselves to her and lets her know help is coming.
Lightbringer is hard to read at times because it feels that hope is lost for these characters and their world. Corien is so evil and so powerful, and with Rielle on his side, he has access to even more power. In the time of Eliana, Rielle is gone, but there seems to be nothing and no one who can challenge him after a thousand years of ruling. He’s absolutely ruthless and has no goodness in him. It’s difficult to see Rielle turn so fully to “the dark side,” even though readers know that’s her fate, spelled out right in the early pages of the first book. There is so much death, so much fighting, so much hopelessness. But then, there is a spark of hope, and Legrand gently blows on that spark in perhaps the last third of Lightbringer to turn the story to a somewhat “happy” conclusion that fits with the characters and the tone of the books.
The books are set in a richly envisioned world of magic, with characters who dedicate their all to defeating evil. The story is intense, a swiftly flowing river of dark water that eventually empties out into a quieter ocean. Now that all three books are published, if you’re starting on the first, expect to be absorbed completely until the very last page.
Rated: High, mostly for violence. This book is closest to possibly being a moderate rating than the previous two. There are four instances of strong language and maybe a dozen instances of mild and moderate profanity. Sexual content includes characters having sex, but generally not many details. There are many same-sex couples, and most characters seem to be pretty casual about sex and pairing up with either gender. As with the other two books, there is a lot of violence, a lot of fighting and many people killed. The villain in this story, the angel Corien, is ruthless and going a bit mad and doesn’t hesitate to torture people, invading their minds, causing pain in many ways. Rielle herself kills many people as well. There are battles and constant peril.
