Last Bloom of the Jade Lotus: A Legends of Tivara Story

Scions of the Black Lotus, Book 6

By: JC Kang

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

The conclusion of the Floating World segment of Scions of the Black Lotus.

The ringleader of a rebellion has holed up with his allies in an unassailable castle, and it is up to Jie, Tian, and other members of the Black Lotus clan's Floating World cell to assassinate him.

©2019 Dragonstone Press, LLC (P)2020 Dragonstone Press, LLC

The stunning conclusion once again raises the bar!

I'm almost at a loss for what to say about this book. The series as a whole has been absolutely fantastic, but this one blows them all away! The sheer number of things that come together in this story make for one of the most satisfying series conclusions I've ever read!

As before, Natalie Naudus provides a fantastic audio performance complete with fantastic voices, near-perfect vocal inflections, and excellent shifts in tempo throughout.

This book continues the structure introduced in the last book, with a heavy reliance on flashbacks that tell the story behind the story, both fleshing out details and painting events in a while new light.

Once again, we spend probably half the book in flashbacks that show the history of (primarily) Jie, Little One, and Lilian, through a brilliant method that (even after 2 books) I'm still in the process of wrapping my head around.

I loved the deeper dive into the history as well as the brilliance that is the plans Lilian arranged, much of it on the fly or in response to things she never could have anticipated.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions that we've been building up to all the way back to the first book that finally come out in the open in this book. So many questions are answered, and so many assumptions flipped right on their heads!

Looking at it now, and seeing the complete story of the series, the overarching plot and mystery that have finally come out, I have to say my mind is fairly well blown.

I am so, so, so anxious to see audio editions of Mr Kang's main Dragon Songs series now!

And speaking of the ending, much like the last book, both the flashback climax and the one in the present come off brilliantly in ways that bring the whole arc to a close in so much more satisfying a way than I ever thought possible.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant series that I cannot recommend strongly enough! Seriously, read everything by JC Kang. This man is a phenomenal author!

Life is good!

I would definitely recommend this series! After so many years of being a lady of the evening! Her life finally takes a turn for the best! Narrator was good!

fitting

a fitting ending to this collection of books, can't wait to see what Kang comes up with next.

Great Conclusion!

Last Bloom of the Jade Lotus is the sixth novella in the Scions of Black Lotus Series. This is a great conclusion to this epic journey. This is my favorite novella in the Series. The characters are great, the world building is well detailed and original, and the storyline is intriguing and captivating. Natalie Naudus did a great job with the narration. #AudiobookUnleashed

Turns everything you thought you knew on its head

This was a whirlwind finale to an action-packed series. While the previous book was mostly told in a series of flashbacks, this book brought us back to the present while revealing flashbacks to book one in the series - this time from Lilian's perspective. I didn't expect the story to come full circle and thought the planning and the writing were brilliantly done. Each book has ended on a note that surprised me and this one was no different.

While the flashback scenes were nicely done, the scenes in the present time were less action and more talk, similar to the previous book. I found myself wanting to rush through those and get back to Lilian's version of the story. So much of it was not what it had seemed the first time around. But what had Lilian set into motion and did she get what she wanted all along? You'll have to read it for yourself.

Content warning: This book had more graphic violence than the previous ones.

I received a free audiobook from the author and have reviewed it willingly.

Thrilling Conclusion

Book six of the "Scions of the Black Lotus" was entertaining. According to the blurb this was the last book in the "Floating World" segment of the "Scions of the Black Lotus", and the ending wrapped up all the mysteries that were presented throughout the first six novellas. I liked all the twists and turns. The characters were complex. There were some steamy descriptions. Natalie Naudus' narration was brilliant, and her performance was easy to follow as she provided various voices for the different characters. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Great and unexpected conclusion!

Love the way J. C. Kang wraped up the storyline by bringing all of the threads together with an unexpected ending! Natalie Naudus was once again spectacular in the narration. Fantastic series of novellas. Well Done!

Layers of plotting and manipulation

Brilliant story with layers of manipulation and plotting. It has superb action, is very well written, has wonderful world-building and an amazing set of characters. Told in a series of well executed flash backs, history is revealed in a new light and overarching plot is slowly revealed. This author is a master of plots within plots and this book weaves all the multiple threads and schemes together to form a satisfying conclusion that was impossible to predict. The narrator, Natalie Naudus, once again did an excellent job of bringing the characters and story to life with great tempo shifts, intonation and vocal inflection. This whole series has been absolutely fantastic, but this novella blows them all the prior ones away. These books do need to be read in sequence to be able to experience the full brilliance of this story.

Closure

One of the best endings! so glad this story closed up this way! Overall, what an interesting look into a world that probably exists.