Title: The Emperor of Evening Stars
Author: Laura Thalassa
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: January 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781942662280
Synopsis:
Before he met his soulmate, Callypso Lillis, and before he became the Bargainer or the King of Night, he was just Desmond Flynn, the bastard son of a scribe. A boy born to a weak mother in a lowly city, cursed with little magic, and destined to marry a slave. A boy taught to hide his truths from the realm of Night…and from himself. But fate had something else in mind.
In an instant, Des loses everything, and his life becomes newly defined by a quest for revenge. From the barren caves of Arestys to the palace of Somnia to the streets of Earth, Des journeys to places he’s only ever read about to destroy the king who shattered his fragile life in the shadows. What he finds will change him forever. Between the threads of fate, the business of bargains, and a centuries-long quest to find his mortal soulmate, this is how a fairy who began with nothing but darkness becomes the Emperor of Evening Stars.
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In this third book of The Bargainer series, Thalassa introduces the reader to an intensive look into Des’s past, giving us insight into how the MMC in this series evolved into the male that the reader is introduced to as a part of Callie’s story. It’s an interesting study, following him through his upbringing and his relationship with his mother, the loss he faced as a younger male, his first introductions to Callie, and his perspective as he watched her suffer and triumph as she came of age. It’s an intimate look at his secrets and the transformation that he undergoes through his lifetime, something that the reader has only been able to infer until now.
Getting Des’s perspective is a nice change of pace in this series, and it’s not often in a romantasy series that you get to have more than a couple of chapters from the MMC’s POV. It also allows the reader to appreciate Callie in a new light, seeing her through the eyes of her mate. The Bargainer and the King of Night is such an interesting character and to see how this somewhat ordinary male transforms into someone so incredibly extraordinary is a joy to read.
There is, however, quite a lot of fluff in this book. It’s filler more than anything, and would have been better positioned as a prequel or standalone companion novel to the series. It is a novella, so it’s short, which does impact the pacing, in my opinion. There’s not a lot of room to really explore Des, and he is arguably one of the most interesting characters, so deserves to have a bit more time spent exploring his characterization.
It goes by quick and is an easy read. While it’s not my favourite book, it was a pretty light story to get through. I could have used a bit more bulk in the story to better round out Des’s past and get more time exploring his origin story.
Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 