Alustin, called the Last Loyal Son of Helecote, is poised to get revenge on just about everyone when he detonates the Tongue Eater in Haveth City. He just has to get it there and keep everyone distracted while he does it. To that end he has assembled an army of Powers from Helicote's former allies. He has told them that The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells, the death curse promised by the Lich of Helicote as he died, will shatter Haveth City's defenses and that the Chitin Wand, stolen from Skyhold along with the Tongue Eater, will destroy the city if they can use it at the right spot. But Alustin has refused to tell them what the Last Echo is and failed to mention the Tongue Eater at all because these "allies" failed to come to Helicote's aid when the Dominion destroyed them. He too will die, but its worth it to get his revenge.  There's just one minor problem. According to Kanderon as she "died", detonating the Tongue Eater won't just destroy Haveth City, it will destroy the entire continent. As the Haveth Dominion rallies their strongest Powers and Kanderon's allies race to stop Alustin everyone ends up in a dramatic three-way battle full of magic and chaos.

The first third of the book follows each faction as they prepare to engage. Hugh and his friends have returned from their months of world-hopping during which they formed a four way warlock pact so they now have each other's magical affinities. Since even five affinities is considered amazing they are now a force to be reckoned with although they are hoping to keep it a secret and surprise Alustin since he knows how to counter their old abilities. They are also keeping the secret that Kanderon isn't truly dead. They think she's attempting to transition into a Lich. That could take years or decades depending on the size of her extra-planar demesne. So her allies continue on without her even though they are outnumbered by the other two sides. They are lead by the two storm great powers, the dragon Indris and Ilinia Kaen Das, Sabae's grandmother, who helped in the Battle of Skyhold. They are joined by the fire mages of Clan Castis, Hugh's old student nemesis who has become a vigilante power called Frost Ghost, and Ramyl the Chained who took the body of an enormous hydra at the Battle of Skyhold, as well as many other colorful characters. Alustin's forces include the feared Gorgon Queen, the remaining Librarians Errant of Skyhold, a crime syndicate teleporter power (they weren't on Alustin's revenge list but he figures he might as well take down organized crime while he's at it), and others. Its a fractious suspicious group held together by their mutual hatred of Haveth. Meanwhile Haveth has called several Powers out of retirement that were not only dangerous to the enemy but also their allies. Backed by the seven Intertwined, the Liches whose Demesnes form Haveth City, and the sun dragon Heliothrax who is probably the greatest Power on their planet, they have a very strong defense. Only Valia, the traitor of Helicote, and Alustin's cousin, is beginning to question her loyalty to Haveth. She is able to confirm Alustin's accusations that Haveth politics are influenced by off-world Powers and discovers that the Intertwined are essentially slaves threatened with pain if they don't do as the government commands.

The day Alustin claimed The Last Echo would destroy arrives and the armies converge on Haveth City. Let the chaos begin! First is the mysterious Last Echo spell. The Lord of Bells promised his Last Echo would doom the Haveth empire with his last breath. As expected the Last Echo wasn't cast by the dead Lich but is something Alustin came up with to shatter their defenses. Its surprisingly prosaic and effective but I won't give it away since discovering the myriad ways people use their affinities is the best part of these books. For a while its a fairly mundane three-way fight in the streets as Alustin distracts everyone from his agents and both Valia's warlocks and Hugh's team try to take him down while the storm queens Indris and Ilinia try to keep Heliothrax engaged. Then it's all chaos after the Chitin Wand is triggered and the fighting devolves into scattered duels. At this point the focus shifts from duel to duel giving us a close look at how the Powers fight each other. Teleporter vs teleporter, the Storm Queens vs the Sun Dragon, the city block sized shifting bamboo cage acrobat mage circus vs just about everyone, and many more. This definitely the best part of this book.

As the battle rages on loyalties change, Powers die, and still Hugh's allies seek to prevent the Tongue Eater from detonating. Just when it looks like they might succeed they realize Heliothrax has that last key they need. While they were gaining new affinities and power so was she in a truly monstrous way that has driven her insane and unwilling to listen to reason. She was already the strongest Power but now her power seems endless and easily counters their efforts. Epic magic is flung about, not to mention some really big dragons as they fight to save their world.

As the series finale its very satisfying and it resolves all story lines. The "epilogue" following the battle is very enlightening. The multi-verse overstory and how Kanderon and others from their world fit into it is finally clarified. Finally. Hugh's and his friends decide on their long-term path forward which may hold further adventures although Bierce plans to spend some time on other characters in the multi-verse for a while. As a reader I'm just delighted to know he plans to keep writing his entertaining superhero style fantasy with its subtle humor.

The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells is already out in e-book, and again is available through Amazon and is in Kindle Unlimited. Oddly, Barnes and Noble only has the e-book in a foreign language. The audio book is on pre-order through Audible to be released August 29, 2023.