The Magi have emerged from the shadows and their power is now openly wielded across both Tia and Alta as the war rages on. Any who dare oppose them are swiftly met with retribution and the people of both countries are suffering greatly. Kirron and his new generation of dragon jousters set their focus on building up Sanctuary in the ruins of an old desert city as a safe haven for those in need. With roots on both sides of the war, the main characters all come together to form the leadership of Sanctuary and they choose to welcome people from both Tia and Alta into their midst. It doesn't take long for this policy to stretch their limited resources too thin as their population continues to swell with refugees.  Amidst the challenges of merging these two cultures together, the dragon jousters are pushed to their limits running night time missions to save as many people as possible. Unfortunately they are too few in number to save everyone. Eventually their efforts catch the attention of the Magi and then things take a turn for the worse.

All of the main characters are back and they are each pushed to their limits in their own way as they try to build a better world for everyone. Of course their efforts eventually lead to a confrontation with the Magi which is complicated by the fact that it takes place in the middle of the ongoing war between Tia and Alta. So essentially you have two wars being fought at the same time in the same place which makes for an especially chaotic environment with a lot of moving parts. Needless to say it is never clear how things are going to turn out but when the dust eventually settles it feels like this book would have made a solid ending to the series. That being said, there is a fourth book in the series so it will be interesting to see what comes next. Up to know I must say I have enjoyed the world created by Mercedes Lackey in this series and the characters are interesting enough for me to recommend the series, at least as a trilogy.

The audiobook version is once again narrated by Ryan Burke and his performance remains consistent. I like his performances and I do not get hung up on how appropriate or inappropriate his accents are. However, there are a number of other reviewers on Audible who can't get over his choice of accents for a series rooted in Egyptian culture so reading this one might be a better option over listening.