The Queen's Starfire Throne

Infernal War Saga, Book 3

De: Hailey Turner

Narrado por: Gary Furlong

Every road must come to an end.

THE DEAD. Facing a war where revenants outnumber the living, Caris Rourke must confront a future written in the stars, one she wants no part of. In order to outmaneuver the enemy, Caris must learn to trust her instincts, no matter where they lead, whether into the heart of danger or into the arms of Nathaniel, a dead man walking she should not trust, much less love.

THE WAR. Eimarille Rourke wants nothing more than to be queen of all Maricol and will do anything to succeed, even the unthinkable. Determined to claim the starfire throne for herself, she must first eradicate all other claimants. Seeking to assassinate her sister and brother amidst a war of her own making will lead Eimarille down a road of ruin from which there is no turning back.

THE LIVING. In the wake of the attack on the Warden's Island, Soren returns to the people who made him into the warden he is today. But the past he thought he'd left behind as a child has given him a name he does not want. Far from the only man he's ever loved, carrying a vow that could change the course of the war, Soren must decide if destroying his life is worth saving a world.

THE STARS. In the throes of an escalating war, Vanya Sa'Liandel must put his country above all else, even his own happiness. As Houses seek to betray him and the fallout of his family's past mistakes claws ever closer, not having Soren by his side is an anguish he can't escape. In the end, the tide of war could turn with an alliance he cannot afford to grant. But years ago, Vanya gave his heart to a warden, and some kinds of love weren't meant to burn out but to rage like starfire.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Hailey Turner (P)2024 Hailey Turner

Meh ending, preferred books 1 & 2

It’s not very satisfying as an ending tbh. It’s just okay. There aren’t any surprises. I am okay with realistic casualties in a wartime story, but i would have liked a HEA for certain characters that didn’t get it. i get that’s not what Turner was going for here, but the added “realism” didn’t do much for me, in this series, so i would have preferred to just be swept up in the fantasy of it all instead. Turner is one of my favorite authors right now, but this is probably my least favorite from her so far even though i enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy.

Epic storytelling

Once upon a time, there was a coup in the country of Ashion. The royal family was killed and the throne toppled. One daughter, Eimarille, was whisked away to be the future bride of a King in another country, but otherwise there were no survivors. Or so they thought.

Caris, the daughter who was born right before the Queen’s life was taken, was raised as a sort of “changeling” in another country of Maricol. The young prince Alisandair was also secreted out of the country and raised by the wardens, a group of soldiers who guard the borders from the undead. One last person to escape the country was a member of a family of protectors, the only witness to Caris’ birth, Blaine.

This series follows the four characters and those that they interact with. So many points of view, and so many things happening. Caris and Alisandair, known as Soren, are raised with a sort of humbleness and with a lack of knowledge of the starfire power they possess. Eimarille was raised with ambition and taught deviousness. Her marriage to the prince of Daijal was really just a ploy for her to take over the country and eventually take the throne of her birth country.

I admit that there is so much that happens in these books that I found myself lost at times. I got the gist of what was happening but couldn’t follow everything. This book and this series are very ambitious, but the world building is extremely well done, and the multitude of plotlines do eventually come together, bringing the three siblings back together in a fight for the throne. Soren and Caris must stop their manipulative sibling from taking the throne and making life miserable for all of the people in Maricol and not just the country of Daijal.

In the end of this book, I felt like the good guys won, but there was so much loss that I don’t know if anyone could really consider themselves victorious. When I stopped to really think about what really caused the betrayal and death that took place across this series, though, I found myself so frustrated. The Star gods, like the Greek gods, are very manipulative. When Innes, the Twilight Star, arranged for the end of the Rourke family, he was thinking about his future and the future of the other Star Gods. He believed that leading Eimarille to an authoritarian rule would be the most beneficial for the gods. His estranged wife, disagreed and made sure that there were other Rourke children and a possible chance for a peaceful future. After all the war and tragedy, the gods walked away, unaffected as the mortals were, and it just felt unfair and sad to me.

Despite my feelings about the manipulation and lack of consequences for the powerful beings, I was so impressed by the world building in this story and how the author juggled the different storylines. I enjoyed seeing Caris and Soren come into their power and some of the love stories in the midst of the mayhem were so sweet. Love stories that included m/m, f/f, and m/f pairings making this world very inclusive and representative of the LGBT+ community. This series was enjoyable and would probably most interest fans of fantasy novels. The narration by Gary Furlong was perfect.

Ah Siblings

I adore these books, this whole series was filled with everything I love which makes me feel bad for annoying I found one of the Povs. Caris never seemed to learn that her wants don't come first especially in war and I wanted to bang my head against a wall whenever she spoke. That being said, I still love these books so five stars, Soren is the absolute best and spent the entire book cleaning up after his siblings so I'm so happy with how things went for him.

How do I move on?

The Queen’s Starfire Throne was an excellent and satisfying conclusion to this epic tale of bravery, magic, and tenacity, as well as the love & hate among people.

Gary Furlong performed the role of narrator with a passion and dedication that allowed me to fully immerse myself in the world Hailey Turner created. With a story that involves many important characters, I never once felt confused as to who was speaking - this world is divided into five different countries, each with its own distinct accents and manners of speech, and Furlong brought each and every one to life.

I’m being honest by saying I’m not sure how to move on from this. It’s been a while since I felt SO MANY EMOTIONS from one story. I had so many strong feelings that I kept notes! The action kept me at the edge of my seat, the heroes had me rooting so hard, and my gods, the villains probably weren’t very good for my blood pressure. (I did wish for more of a comeuppance for our bad guys, but that may just be my own sadistic mind.) To be fair, I did “yell” at most everyone - good and bad - in my notes.

Finally, to all the memes that ask which three characters would I prefer to be stuck in an elevator/deserted island/zombie apocalypse with … hands down: Soren, Blaine, Honovi.

The very last chapter

This was a great story and the pace of it was excellent. The initial start of the series was overwhelming in the number of characters introduced but was necessary for the story. I think Hailey Turner is becoming a better storyteller with each new series written.

Maricol is a fantastic world with wonderful descriptions of everything from the Star gods to the revenants.

The very last chapter will pull a tear as the story finally wraps up. I might be so bold to say the last sentence.

Great Book! Hope there’s more.

Was excited for this one. Didn’t disappoint. I’ve listened to these as they have came out and like really enjoy the naration.

Perfect close to a wonderful series

Really love the character development and all the attention put into all the different aspects of the story. Kept you on your toes.

this series captured my soul

i did not want this to end. the narration perfectly encompassed the different characters and the emotions they felt. that i also felt. there were tears and joy and these will sit with me for a very long time. i appreciate everyone who created this and brought it to life.

amazing narrator

Seriously, the story is amazing, but the narrator was the best! The range of accents is unbelievable.