FATE OF THE SUN KING by Nisha J. Tuli

Book Review

Elloise Hopkins

There is unrest in the Umbra as Atlas, the Sun King, purposefully and continuously denies the people’s wishes. Rebellion brews. And while Atlas continues to plot in secret and delay his bonding ceremony, Gabriel is suffering. He alone knows Atlas’s truths. The true king is kept hidden, cut off from his magic, fading day by day from the ruler he should have been and from the man Gabriel once knew.

Lor has no choice but to get to the Mirror and find out how to release her magic. She and Nadir, the Aurora Prince, have to find a way to get inside without Atlas finding out. They will need help from inside, but can Gabriel be trusted? On top of everything else, their relationship is developing, whether they would will it or not, and it seems neither one can control their feelings or their reactions to one another.

Fate of the Sun King follows Lor and Nadir as point-of-view characters, with the main emphasis placed on the development of emotional and sexual relationships between them. Gabriel also takes a key narrative role, which allows the reader to glimpse another side of Atlas’ cold servant and the struggles he faces. His narrative voice very well reflects the hard exterior he is forced to reveal to others.

In this third book in the Artefacts of Ouranos series, we see flashbacks of a young Lor, fourteen years prior to her imprisonment in Nostraza, which helps to add detail and understanding to events and confrontations in the present, as she seeks to recover her own powers, and more significantly, learns the follies of those before her.

As with the previous books, the pace is good. Detail and reflection often make way for action, but we have an easy read – perfect for some light summer evenings. This time, though, Tuli leaves us with an unbearable cliffhanger. Book four will be the impatiently awaited release of November.