Narrated by Josh Dylan
This third book in The Last Binding series won’t work as a standalone. I recommend reading at least one of the previous books first. I enjoyed the first book, A Marvellous Light, but didn’t read the second book, and while I wasn’t lost, it did take a while to get all the characters and their relationships straight at the beginning of A Power Unbound.
In the first two books we learn that there are magicians in positions of political power who are scheming to basically steal all the magical power of the Last Contract – a pact made between fae and humans giving the power over all magic to humans just before the fae left this world for good. The physical symbols of the Last Contract are a cup, a knife, and a coin, all made from silver, and once the bargain was in place, the three objects were separated and hidden so no one could bring them all together and misuse their power. This, of course, is exactly what this group of magicians is trying to do. At the end of A Marvellous Light, where we meet Edwin Courcey and Robin Blythe, the coin is stolen from them just after they’ve found it. In A Restless Truth, Maud Blyth and Violet Debenham recover the cup during a murder mystery at sea. We also meet a rather prickly Jack Alston (Lord Hawthorn), and Alan Ross, a thief/journalist also on the ship.
A Power Unbound opens with a flashback to an event in Jack’s past when his uncle and his cousin George try to steal both his and his twin sister’s magic with tragic results, including the loss of his magic and the death of his sister. Silenced by a binding spell ever since that night, Jack has been unable to tell anyone what really happened. In the present day, George and Edwin Courcey’s brother, Walter, are leading the group trying to gather the Last Contract items. They’ve succeeded in getting the coin, and are now plotting ways to steal the cup hidden in Spinet House, a rather cranky magical house Violet inherited. Due to the attempts being made to steal the cup, Violet and Maude have convinced Jack to live there as a sort of bodyguard. During an unexpected morning call from Alan, Edwin realizes Alan has a special relationship with magic: it seems to bounce off him. In return for being Edwin’s guinea pig for some magical experiments to learn more about how this non-magical person resists magic, Alan asks for some favors from Jack, such as introductions to a few high profile people to get interviews and advance his career. This cooperation results in Alan’s becoming involved in the protection of the cup and the search for the missing knife. It also throws him into company with Jack.
Jack is everything Alan hates about “the quality”, arrogant, privileged, and ignorant about how most people live. While Alan scrapes by, barely keeping his extended family fed and housed, Jack is seemingly idle and uncaring. Jack is equally disdainful of Alan and the two spend most of their time sniping and snarling at each other. But the strong current of attraction simmering between them makes it very difficult for them to ignore one another. When the pull gets to be too much, they find a way to continue to snipe and spar even in the bedroom (or sitting room, or wherever) much to their mutual satisfaction. This results in perhaps the best ‘hate sex’ scenes I’ve ever read. I love that even after it’s obvious feelings are getting involved, neither man has a personality transplant and both retain their prickliness.
While the relationship takes up a fair amount of the book, the storyline about the Last Contract items and the machinations of the magicians bent on stealing all the power for themselves is developing as well. While the magic system and the convoluted plot are clever and often exciting, there are some definite pacing issues. Some scenes are too long, and other scenes are a bit rushed with inadequate explanation about what’s happening. George and Walter always being a step ahead of our group also got a little old. There are well written and unexpected twists, but there are also a few actions (or inactions) by our heroes that had me scratching my head, and the finale goes on too long.
Josh Dylan is a new-to-me narrator and I am pleased to say he does an excellent job. There is a rather large cast of characters, including several women, and he gives each of them distinct voices and personalities. Mr Dylan doesn’t change his voice over much for the female characters, but I never had any difficulty knowing they were women. His voice acting is smooth throughout and dialogs and narrative passages are delivered with appropriate emotions. Jack’s snark and arrogance shine through, and Alan’s caustic barbs are wonderfully delivered. I will definitely be looking for more books he’s narrated.
A Power Unbound is a complex fantasy story with some beautifully written passages and a wonderful romance. I feel like the story suffers a bit from too much going on, especially right at the end, and a reliance on serendipity to win the day. That aside, I will definitely pick up another Freya Marske book on the strength of the writing and the cleverness of her worldbuilding.
Carrie
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