Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Release Date: July 10, 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Historical / Medieval
The tumultuous, edge-of-your-seat conclusion to the New York Times bestselling AND I DARKEN series—the epic saga that reads like HBO’s Game of Thrones…if it were set in the Ottoman Empire. Who will live? Who will die? And who will rule triumphant?
Haunted by the sacrifices he made in Constantinople, Radu is called back to the new capital. Mehmed is building an empire, becoming the sultan his people need. But Mehmed has a secret: as emperor, he is more powerful than ever…and desperately lonely. Does this mean Radu can finally have more with Mehmed…and would he even want it?
Lada’s rule of absolute justice has created a Wallachia free of crime. But Lada won’t rest until everyone knows that her country’s borders are inviolable. Determined to send a message of defiance, she has the bodies of Mehmed’s peace envoy delivered to him, leaving Radu and Mehmed with no choice. If Lada is allowed to continue, only death will prosper. They must go to war against the girl prince.
But Mehmed knows that he loves her. He understands her. She must lose to him so he can keep her safe. Radu alone fears that they are underestimating his sister’s indomitable will. Only by destroying everything that came before—including her relationships—can Lada truly build the country she wants.
Claim the throne. Demand the crown. Rule the world.
Bright We Burn, by author Kiersten White, is the third and final installment in the authors The Conqueror's Saga trilogy. Bright We Burn delivers all the action and
intensity of the first two books and is the epic conclusion fans have
been waiting for. Ambitious in scope and intimate in execution, the
story’s atmospheric setting is rife with political intrigue, with a
deftly plotted narrative driven by fiercely passionate characters.
The story is being compared to Game of Thrones due to the dark, sophisticated, and bloody nature of the series. There
are castles, secrets, murders, political intrigue, war, betrayals,
violent uprisings, and romance. The story takes place in 15th Century Transylvania
(historical region in the central part of Romania); Wallachia
(historical and geographical region of Romania); as well as Constantinople which has been conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
“She was a dragon.
She was a prince.
She was a woman.
It was the last that scared them most of all.”
The story opens right where Now I Rise finished. Lada Dracul is in Wallachia where people are telling exaggerated stories about her escapades, but they're not far from the actual truth. Lada is taking out her enemies while imposing new rules which really don't get a whole lot of respect. She's now the Prince she was always hoping to be, but there are enemies surrounding her on all sides, and allies who would gladly stab her in the back in order to keep on the new Ottoman Empire's Sultan, Mehmed good side.
Lada basically spits in the face of Mehmed and tells him and Radu to come get her by not only refusing to become a vassal state like other countries, but by going to war on his troops who have committed crimes against her people. Good idea? Bad Idea? The point is that Lada isn't a heroine. She may be considered an anti-heroine in all reality, and I'm perfectly fine with villain stories. She isn't afraid of killing and slaughtering and getting her hands bloody if it fits her narrative. She's broken.
She's been left behind by her own brother who she promised to protect. She feints love for someone she grew up with, but it's basically just for sexual enjoyment. She's urged to return to Mehmed where she knows she won't be in charge of her own destiny. In Wallachia, she fights for her land, her people, and forms a strange kinship with both. Wallachia’s hardened landscape isn't for everyone, as Mehmed soon learns.
Folks, let me just say this. You all knew going into this series that the author was doing a retelling of Vlad Dracul, except by flipping the genders and making Vlad, Lada. So, if you are at all unhappy with the way this series ends, please refer back to history and you will definitely see a correlation.
Meanwhile, Radu is called back to Constantinople by Mehmed like a good little dog whenever its master calls him home. But, he's a changed man. His indecision cost people their lives and now on the other side of the fence, he no longer knows what he’s fighting for. Radu is driven now more than anytime before by love for his family made up of Nazira, Fatma, and even Cyprian. Radu is not Lada or Mehmed. Where their decisions come
from a place of ruthlessness and ambition, his comes from a place of
love and mercy. I think the most poignant scene in all the book was when Radu and Lada reunite and they both have to look at their lives since being sold to Mehmed's people when they were children.
I'm not going to talk about Mehmed all that much since he really is a historical character. But, he genuinely pissed me off by the way he completely disregards Lada’s ambitions, and the way he underestimated her intentions when it came to her home. He acted as though Lada is something to be conquered and possessed. His desire to kidnap & drag back Lada to where HE believes she should be, was a perfect example of someone not wanting a woman like Lada to have any sort of happiness.
I
am absolutely OK with how this story and series ends. If it had ended
any other way, then it would have been considered alternative history
fiction.
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1454, Wallachia
Lada Dracul had cut through blood and bones to get the castle.
That
did not mean she wanted to spend time in it. It was a relief to escape
the capital. She understood the need for a seat of power, but she hated
that it was Tirgoviste. She could not sleep in those stone rooms, empty
and yet still crowded with the ghosts of all the princes who had come
before her.
With
too far to go before reaching Nicolae, Lada planned to camp for the
night. Solitude was increasingly precious—and yet another resource she
was sorely lacking. But a tiny village tucked away from the frosted road
beckoned her. During one of the last summers before she and Radu were
traded to the Ottomans, they had traveled this same path with their
father. It had been one of the happiest seasons of her life. Though it
was winter now, nostalgia and melancholy slowed her until she decided to
stay.
Outside
the village, she spent a few frigid minutes changing into clothes more
standard than her usual selection of black trousers and tunics. They
were noteworthy enough that she risked being recognized. She put on
skirts and a blouse—but with mail underneath. Always that. To the
untrained eye, there was nothing to mark her as prince.
She
found lodging in a stone cottage. Because there was not enough planting
land for boyars to bother with here, the peasants could own small
patches of it. Not enough to prosper, but enough to survive. An older
woman seated Lada by the fire with bread and stew as soon as coins had
exchanged hands. The woman had a daughter, a small thing wearing
much-patched and too-large clothes.
They
also had a cat, who, in spite of Lada’s utter indifference to the
creature, insisted on rubbing against her leg and purring. The little
girl sat almost as close. “Her name is Prince,” the girl said, reaching
down to scratch the cat’s ears.
Lada raised an eyebrow. “That is an odd name for a female cat.”
The girl grinned, showing all the childhood gaps among her teeth. “But princes can be girls now, too.”
“Ah, yes.” Lada tried not to smile. “Tell me, what do you think of our new prince?”
“I have never seen her. But I want to! I think she must be the prettiest girl alive.”
Lada
snorted at the same time as the girl’s mother. The woman sat down in a
chair across from Lada. “I have heard she is nothing to look at. A
blessing. Perhaps it can keep her out of a marriage.”
“Oh?” Lada stirred her stew. “You do not think she should get married?”
The
woman leaned forward intently. “You came here by yourself. A woman?
Traveling alone? A year ago such a thing would have been impossible.
This last harvest we were able to take our crops to Tirgoviste without
paying robbers’ fees every league along the road. We made two times
again as much money as we ever have. And my sister no longer has to
teach her boys to pretend to be stupid to avoid being taken for the
sultan’s accursed Janissary troops.”
Lada nodded as though hesitant to agree. “But the prince killed all those boyars. I hear she is depraved.”
The
woman huffed, waving a hand. “What did the boyars ever do for us? She
had her reasons. I heard—” She leaned forward so quickly and with such
animation half her stew spilled, unnoticed. “I heard she is giving land
to anyone. Can you imagine? No family name, no boyar line. She gives it
to those who deserve it. So I hope she never marries. I hope she lives
to be a hundred years old, breathing fire and drinking the blood of our
enemies.”
The
little girl grabbed the cat, settling it on her lap. “Did you hear the
story of the golden goblet?” she asked, eyes bright and shining.
Lada smiled. “Tell me.”
And
so Lada heard new stories about herself, from her own people. They were
exaggerated and stretched, but they were based on things she had
actually done. The ways she had improved her country for her people.
Lada slept well that night.
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