The locations of the Godstones are now known and the various battles to control them are underway; however, only the Dynize know how to use them and their leader has plans to do just that. The conflict now spans multiple continents and the main PoV characters are spread across the lands, each doing their part to destroy the stones before they can be used. Easier said than done. Michel is headed back to Landfall to do what he can, Mad Ben Styke is across the ocean planning to attack the stone within the Dynize capital with the Mad Lancers, and Lady Vlora Flint must find a way to stop the Dynize army, despite the fact that she is physically broken and no longer has her Powder Mage abilities. If they don't succeed then a new God will be born and the Dynize will dictate the fate of the world.

Although I found myself initially disappointed with the Mad Ben Styke thread and his experiences on the Dynize continent, I did eventually get into it. In typical fantasy book fashion, each thread builds in momentum until they all align for the big finale. A finale that was indeed satisfying and followed up with a little bit of additional story to give us some insight into the world after the outcome of the big conflict. Kudos to Brian McClellan for writing a second trilogy that manages to surpass the first, so if you enjoyed the initial one then you should definitely keep going.

On the audiobook side of things, things are not so rosy as Christian Rodska was unable to do the recording: “Christian has cancer, he's been battling it for 14 years and has just undergone his latest course of chemotherapy treatment. He's recovering well but, regrettably, didn't feel well enough to do Blood of Empire justice. Christian was instrumental in casting and then preparing John Telfer to take the reigns for the final installment of the series.” Although John Telfer is clearly talented he does not try to match the voices used by Christian and the change is jarring, especially for Mad Ben Styke. With this in mind I would recommend reading this series over listening.