The Forever Court

Our Review

The Forever Court is the sequel to The Knights of the Borrowed Dark and it was just as good as the previous book.

The book begins by introducing us to a new set of characters named the Croits. Uriel Croit and his sister Ambrel are fighting on their grandmother’s grave. It becomes clear later in the chapter that this fight between them is encouraged by their grandfather when he quizzes them later about their technique. Uriel’s grandfather reminds him that we must all be ready to die when the time comes.

The Croits live in their ancestral home Eloquence – a ruined castle on an isolated island. As the book progresses it becomes clear that the family are almost cult-like in their worship of a figure they call the Redemptress. They believe that the Redemptress is asleep until such a time as they will face The Adversary. It Is unclear throughout much of the book who this Adversary is.

‘Long ago,’ grandfather intoned, we were given a duty. A calling. And now here you kneel, where the first of us knelt, ready to know whether that calling will be yours. Whether you are favoured. Whether you are Croits. The Redemptress looks upon you and, if you are worthy the world will tremble with the fire she bestows. “

We first see Denizen Hardwick in the midst of a newly discovered pleasure – a bookshop. Denizen Hardwick loved bookshops. It was a new romance for him. There simply hadn’t been any near the orphanage in which he’d grown up…now Denizen lived in a city, with bookshops on every corner, and you couldn’t get him out of them with a crowbar.

The current bookshop he is in is a beautiful example, almost too perfect. Denizen is there to confront the owner.

‘My orders are to let her deal with you,’ Denizen continued. ‘But I can’t not after…’ Blackness in the bookseller’s eyes. A twist of fire in Denizen’s throat.

‘After what?’ the old man whispered, his voice the uttering of dry, dead wings.

‘You put their pictures up on your door.’

The Tenbrous attacked.”

This and other incidents like it have led Vivian to worry that Denizen is being reckless and that he was looking for a fight. This, and the fact that Denizen and Vivian have still not spoken, means that there is a lot of built up tension between them. Simon tries to encourage Denizen to talk to her.

I mean, she’s only the estranged mother who left you in an orphanage eleven years ago to pursue a suicidal revenge mission. Why would you need to talk about that.

As if his life couldn’t get anymore complicated Denizen suspects he has feelings for Mercy. Mercy is the daughter of the Endless King, the king of the Tenebrous. Things get even more complicated when Mercy proposes a meeting to suggest peace between the Knights and the Tenebrous. Both sides are suspicious of each other’s intentions after the meeting but all Denizen can think about is Mercy. He even decides to sneak out to meet her.

Dave Rudden’s humour was very much in evidence in this book.

“Life in Seraphim Row had a very inconsistent quality to it, one moment you might be fighting for your life against impossible odds, the next you’d be doing the dishes. Maybe that was why knights were constantly on edge – you never knew whether the next five minutes would contain soul-crushing horror or chips with garlic sauce?’

There were also some moving moments in this book, such as the one between Denizen and Jack.

Dave Rudden gives the readers a lot more information about the Tenebrae and the Tenebrous and the origin of the Knights of the Borrowed Dark.

I cannot wait to read the final book in this trilogy and I would highly recommend it.

Our Final Rating...

Mon, 17th April 2017