time is on our side

My review of And the Summer Will Rise, the third and final installment of The Essence of the Equinox trilogy, can also be read here!

This review might contain very mild spoilers. 

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It’s been a pleasure to follow this series during the last few years, from its first installment, its sequel, its prequel, its additional short stories, and now its more than worthy conclusion (at least, for now). 

And the Age of Summer Will Rise gave me everything I could’ve dared to ask of this series. It followed the threads the author had so carefully weaved from the start, allowing for an ending that feels earned, bittersweet yet full of possibility. 

The doomed romance between the two leads, Laila and Darius, our star princess and the monstrous king she fell irremediably in love with, was always a highlight of the series, but it’s in this book where it all pays off in a masterfully singular way that stands in defiance of more typical approaches in the genre. I thought the decay of their relationship and the toll it took on Laila was done with the utmost skill and empathy; following our heroine’s emotional roller-coaster of a journey was harrowing and ultimately rewarding, like a balm for every other time I’ve seen a female character I love having her arc discarded in favour of a contrived, effortless resolution. 

Another aspect that always stood out in TEOTE and that was not at all lost was its female characters, both due to their quantity and extensive variety, and due to their significance and their reach in the narrative. They’re important players, each in their own way and to their own extent, with gravitas and with the power to shape the story, and no mere ornaments moved through it at convenience. I must make a especial mention here to Sabina, a character whose journey in the last two books has left me aching, but extremely gratified. 

The author, as usual, ties these and other elements together with a beautiful lush prose, an admirable eye for detail, and a talent to entice all five senses with her description, rich with symbolism yet without ever losing sight of the plot and utilising her style to its full effect. All enhanced by the beautiful cover and interior art by Eeva Nikunen. 

I encourage anyone with a love for high fantasy stories with intricate world building and complex relationships of all kinds, as well as with a craving similar to my own for female characters written with nuance, empathy, respect and courage, to pick up the first book of the trilogy (with a review that you can see here). 

This is a series that gave me so much I’d been missing in other fantasy worlds, and I know I’ll still revisit years after this. Just as I look forward to seeing what Camilla Andrew dazzles us next with.