A Time of Courage

John Gwynne brings the Of Blood and Bone trilogy to a conclusion that the fantasy community has called one of the genre's finest final volumes. Riv leads the surviving Ben-Elim forces while Drem and his companions face a demon siege, and roughly a quarter of the book is consumed by an epic battle that reviewers have described in superlatives. What distinguishes Gwynne's work from grimmer peers is the moral clarity underneath all the bloodshed — this is a story that believes in sacrifice, loyalty, and the worth of the fight. The honest caveat for this site is important: the violence is graphic and sustained throughout. New readers will also need the prior six books in the Banished Lands world to understand what's at stake. For adult high-fantasy readers who are prepared for both, this delivers.