The Blackfire Blade by James Logan – Review

Published: November 4, 2025

Publisher: Tor Books

Series: The Last Legacy #2

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 489 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
The hotly anticipated sequel to The Silverblood Promise continues the incredible new epic fantasy series perfect for fans of Scott Lynch.

Winter has come early to Korslakov, City of Spires, and Lukan Gardova has arrived with it. Most visitors to this famous city of artifice seek technological marvels, or alchemical ingenuity. Lukan only desires the unknown legacy his father has left for him, in the vaults of the Blackfire Bank.

But when Lukan’s key to the vault is stolen by a mysterious thief known as the Rook, he and his friends race to win it back—and find themselves trapped in a web of murder and deceit. In desperation, Lukan requests the help of Lady Marni Volkova, scion to Korslakov’s most powerful family.

Yet Lady Marni has secrets of her own. Worse, she has plans for Lukan and his friends. Plans that involve a journey into Korslakov’s dark past, in search of a long-lost alchemical formula that could prove to be the city’s greatest discovery . . . or its destruction.

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First of all, I’d like to say that The Blackfire Blade has one of the most visually stunning covers I’ve seen in a long time. It’s so detailed and the purple flames and cityscape are just mesmerizing. The Blackfire Blade also manages to carry on the plot from The Silverblood Promise successfully without suffering from “second book syndrome”, which is no small feat for a nearly 500 page book.

The Blackfire Blade picks up with Lukan, Ashra, and Flea arriving at Korslakov – a frigid city far to the north known for its skilled artificers. Lukan has journeyed here to open his father’s vault at the Blackfire Bank and discover what was so important that his father left that message for him prior to his death. Of course, it would be far too easy if Lukan simply arrived and opened the vault. Instead he gets plastered drunk and his key gets swiped by a thief in a raven costume with glowing amber eyes. The trio stay in a state of continual danger throughout the book, one step ahead of the noose. Desperate to stay alive, Lukan requests the help of Lady Marni who you may remember as the Lady in Red from the pyramid game in the previous book. Lady Marni expects repayment for her help in the form of a dangerous task – recovering an alchemical formula from the abandoned plague district.

While this is largely a plot driven book, the characters are certainly memorable. Lukan is an inveterate drunk and Ashra is disgusted with him for his carelessness and disregard for both herself and Flea. Poor Flea is torn, basically watching her only reliable adult figures at odds with one another. The side characters Marni, Razin, and Lady Wretzky were favorites for various reasons. Marni and her single minded obsession with the Phaeron (and her status as nobility) uh, certainly didn’t make her a nice person. Lady Wretzky was a terrifying woman who smoked like a freight train and Razin was the stereotypical old guy who told embellished stories of past successes.

Overall, I had a great time reading The Blackfire Blade, though I was a smidge disappointed that the titular blade wasn’t all that present in the story. There were plenty of other surprises that provided absolutely pulse pounding action sequences and found our characters fleeing for their lives. I actually like that there were several distinct subplots within the story, though I won’t go into detail because that would be spoiler-y. I look forward to seeing where the third installment takes things because James Logan sure likes to leave readers with stunning cliffhanger endings.