Ember Queen turned out to be an excellent conclusion to this entire trilogy, and I had a great time reading it. I have been enjoying this trilogy since the beginning, reading Ash Princess in 2018 and Lady Smoke in 2019, both of which are pretty fantastic novels. This is the third and final book in Sebastian’s debut A sh Princess trilogy, and this is definitely another superb addition to this fun series. Ember Queen is an amazing book from Laura Sebastian, who over the last couple of years has done an excellent job establishing herself as one of the best new young adult fantasy fiction authors. Wow, talk about an impressive end to a great trilogy. Who will rise as the Ember Queen, and will the winner have anything left to rule? However, Cress has her own plans, and whole of Astrea may burn in order for her to get her revenge. With her own fire magic greatly increased, Theo plots to take the fight straight to the Kalovaxians. Using these to her advantage, Cress has done the unthinkable, killing the Kalovaxian Kaiser, poisoning Theo and claiming power over Astrea as the Kaiserin.īarely surviving her own poisoning after a sojourn down into the magical Fire Mine, Theo must now find a way to free Astrea from her former best friend.

Despite being burned and mutilated, Cress survived, with the fire-imbued poison granting her powerful and deadly magical abilities. Theo chose to poison Cress and her father when she made her escape, and while she succeeded in killing Cress’s father, the magical poison she used had unexpected side effects on Cress. However, the sins of Theo’s past have come back to haunt her.Ĭress is a young Kalovaxian noblewoman who claimed Theo as her best friend during Theo’s imprisonment, despite being the daughter of the man who killed Theo’s mother. Hoping to free her people, Theo and her friends believe that they finally have the advantage over the Kalovaxians. Now Theo has returned to Astrea, leading an army made up of freed Astreans, pirates, refugees and forces from the other nations the Kalovaxians have ruined. However, this imprisonment didn’t break Theo instead, with the help of her friends, she was able to escape to forge her own destiny. Princess Theodosia, heir the Astrean throne, was imprisoned and spent over 10 years as a captive of the Kalovaxian Kaiser, belittled by the mocking title of “Ash Princess”. Years ago, when the vicious Kalovaxians invaded the island of Astrea, they killed their queen, enslaved the Astrean people and stole their sacred magical gems. Young adult fantasy fiction author Laura Sebastian brings her debut series to a close in a big way with Ember Queen, the excellent and exciting conclusion to the Ash Princess trilogy. Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia (Trade Paperback – 11 February 2020)

The ash princess series