The Last Lies of Ardor Benn

Starred review from October 12, 2020
Whitesides sticks the landing in his conclusion to the Kingdom of Grit trilogy (following The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn), which sprang from the unusual premise of a magic system fueled by dragon dung. Legendary ruse artist Ardor Benn has ostensibly turned over a new leaf now that Queen Abeth Agaul has pardoned his crimes on the condition that he go straight and apologize to those he wronged. But soon he’s up to his old tricks: infiltrating a religious community, the Islehood, and duping people into consulting him for spiritual guidance as part of a scheme to steal the Islehood’s collection of dragon egg fragments. That scheme is soon superseded by an even more daunting task at the request of Hedge Marsool, a notorious criminal, whose ability to see the future and apparently control Ard’s actions make Ard incapable of ignoring his demand that Ard kidnap a mature dragon. The quest takes numerous unexpected turns as it builds to a thoroughly satisfying climax. Whitesides excels at balancing detailed worldbuilding and page-turning plot, sprinkling in plenty of humor along the way. This is a worthy finale to the series, and Whitesides’s fans will be eager to see what he does next.

November 1, 2020
Ardor Benn's final adventure (after The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn, 2020) is his most epic. He's gotten a full pardon, and even better, he's been accepted into the priesthood of the Isles. As far as his partner knows, it's a ruse to get information; Ard finds himself wishing it could be more. Once a ruse artist, though, always a ruse artist--in the escape from a hairy situation involving a former mark, Ard and Raek get drawn into working for a particularly unsavory character who has strange foreknowledge of Ardor's every move. On top of the improbable set of tasks they're assigned, there's a cult bent on bringing on the legendary Wayfarist end of days. Ardor's schemes are, as expected, complicated and precarious--almost too elaborate to work, but in true heist tradition, somehow he and his competent team make it happen. It's a fun read with plenty of adventure, danger, and clever solutions to problems; ultimately a satisfying, if surprisingly tidy, end to the career of a self-proclaimed legendary criminal.

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