The Last Uncharted Sky

Starred review from June 15, 2020
The triumphant finale to Craddock’s swashbuckling Risen Kingdoms trilogy (after A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery) takes the series to new heights. Musketeer Jean-Claude and sorcerer Isabelle, a newly minted airship captain serving l’Empire Celeste, launch a perilous expedition to the highest point of their world, into the Twilight Latitudes and through the Bittergale. The explorers hope to find a wrecked flagship rumored to contain “the treasure of a century in coin and plunder,” but they also have a less mercenary objective: the foundation of a new colony built on the principles of observation and experiment. Their journey is made more perilous by the results of an experiment done on Isabelle’s brain in a previous book, which left her with “a gibbering mob of other people’s memories” that cause her to hallucinate. The sophisticated, action-packed plot is rendered in vivid prose and enhanced by philosophical and spiritual questions as the richly imagined world wrestles with the concept of a religious savior. Craddock’s superior worldbuilding sweats the small stuff, including juicy details that make this world feel lived-in. This is a spectacular series ender.

October 23, 2020
Isabelle has taken command of an airship tasked with recovering mythic treasure on behalf of l'Empire. It seems like an ideal position for her as it allows her to lead while being far from the court that scorns her for her physical disability and unusual magic. But nefarious villains are underfoot, and after the events of A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery (2019), Isabelle finds herself suffering from hallucinations as her ancestors (whose personalities have been implanted into her brain) vie for control over her consciousness. The third and final chapter in Craddock's Risen Kingdoms series offers a fitting quest and end for Isabelle as well as her loyal band of comrades, including Jean-Claude, the charismatic musketeer and Isabelle's father figure; Major Bitterlich, a handsome and charming shape-shifter; and Marie, Isabelle's stoic handmaiden-turned-bodyguard. Craddock builds on his rich, fantastical, steampunk-infused world by further exploring the rules, traditions, and lore of its magic. A thrilling, witty swashbuckler in the tradition of Verne, Wells, and Dumas.

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