Published: December 6, 2022
Publisher: Orbit Books
Series: Rooks and Ruin #3
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 544 (Paperback)
My Rating: 4.5/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The Rooks and Ruin series concludes with this epic fantasy bursting with intrigue and ambition, questioned loyalties, and broken magic as Ryx fights to defeat the demons and save everything she loves.
The Dark Days have returned. The Demon of Carnage mercilessly cuts through villagers and armies. The Demon of Corruption rots the land. The Serene Empire and the Witch Lords race towards war. And in the middle of it all stands Rxyander, the Warden of Gloamingard.
Burdened by conflicting loyalties and guilt, Ryx searches desperately for a way to defeat the demons before the world she loves is completely destroyed. To find answers, she’ll have to return to where it all started…the black tower at the heart of Gloamingard.
By blood the Door was opened and only by blood will the Dark Days end.
The Ivory Tomb is the final book in the Rooks and Ruin trilogy and is literally the only thing that kept me sane during the many queues for rollercoasters during our recentf vacation. I read 75% of this book while surrounded by noisy, fidgety people and it was able to totally transport me, which I think is quite complementary to Melissa Caruso’s storytelling ability. Be forewarned, the rest of this review will contain spoilers for all the books in this series, including this one!
This picks up right after the worst of the demons were released from the Nine Hells. Carnage is slaughtering her way through the Raverran countryside while Corruption is rotting Vaskandar one village at a time. Ryx and her friends in the Rookery are trying their best to curb the monsters plaguing the human world, but some simply cannot be reasoned with. The artificers developed a device that can theoretically trap the demons when they leave their host and of course some idiot from Raverra decides that Ryx is the perfect demon to test this on. You know, the same demon that thought she was a human until recently and has been trying to help stop the others. Poor Ryx spends the entire book either watching out for potential treachery from the Raverrans, looking out for Hunger or Carnage (who both want her blood), and running from location to location trying to stay one step ahead. Rather stressful.
I thought the friendships and relationships in this series were handled really well and had nice, believable development. I am totally a sucker for the aethlings, so Ryxander, Severin, and the lovely tension between them might have been my favorite part. I also love that the Rookery totally stands behind Ryx, even when outside forces are trying to shoehorn her into the role of monster and it puts them at risk by association. I do think things with the demons wrapped up very quickly. I could have sworn I had a hundred pages left (those darn previews for others books at the end tricked me) and suddenly the nasty demons are back in the Nine Hells and the reformable demons are doing fifty years of penance to make up for their crimes. Including Ryx, which was totally unfair but hey, at least she gets visitors and gets to remain the Warden of Gloamingard and the epilogue was heartwarming.
Overall, I thought this was a solid wrap up to the series, though I think the second book might be my favorite because it was absolutely fraught with revelations and drama. These books are a great mix of political drama, magical throw down, and slow burn romance (just a bit, not too much). I think they can easily appeal to readers across a wide range of ages and they’re really fun while also handling some pretty serious topics/issues in a fantasy setting.
Powder & Page 
This is going to be one of my upcoming reads so I’ve only skimmed this for now but it’s very encouraging to see such a great rating.
Lynn 😀
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