Synopsis:
No less blood is shed when bonds become broken.
Threats come from all sides as Ladrican ships wait off the coast and a mysterious untethered threat becomes impossible to ignore.
Lin is pushed to breaking as he struggles to stall Ladrica’s assault. War is upon Danica, but like an infection allowed to fester, the threat of the untethered can no longer be ignored.
Soldier. Hero. Monster.
Review:
There’s always something special when a series you fell in love with ends. Not to mention all sorts of emotions. The Binding Tenets trilogy is one of those stories for me. It started with Bloodwoven (which was released one year to the day ago), grew with Bloodbound, and finally crescendos with Bloodless. The feels were there when I read Bloodless, and it’s very safe to say that Terral stuck the landing!
Bloodless picks up right where Bloodbound ends, so some light spoilers ahead. Lin’s surrogate daughter is once again the center of the plot and it is up to our no-longer-questioning hero to save her, and maybe save all of Danica with her. With war closing in on Danica, a new threat, a true threat, rises. The untethered are no longer empty vessels attacking at random, no, a leader has bound (yeah, that’s a lore pun right there) them.
As with Bloodwoven and Bloodbound, this story is told exclusively via Lin’s POV. We’ve seen this man go from true believer in the world he lives in to a man who no longer is bound by those same rules. He’s come to terms with his condition, and his growth over this series has been nothing short of exceptional. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are some excellent twists on Lin’s journey and as a reader, you cannot help but root for the man, to cry alongside him, to yearn to just for him to be free. There is a very compelling ending to Lin’s journey and it was extremely satisfying to see where Lin ends up.
The surrounding cast is still great. Denny is still the beating heart of this series and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. She’s just amazing and I loved spending all the time with her. If Terral ever wants to write a prequel novella, Denny should be the main character! Since Bloodbound went in a different direction with Lin and Danica at large, we finally get to see some characters from Bloodwoven return, especially Tylle (Lin’s unrequited love interest). Tylle is as mysterious as ever, and it was great to see how the new version of Lin interacted with her. But it is the Horned King who steals the show here. He is the one who has created an army with the untethered. Again, no spoilers, but he was pretty damn frightening and was a worthy adversary for this final book of the trilogy.
One thing is absolutely certain, this story had a very satisfying ending for all characters. It was completely logical based on the world and arc Terral crafted. I was completely here for the ending.
With each book in the series, Terral has grown as a writer. The prose, while always strong, remains excellent. But you can really tell he’s leveled up as the scenes felt more alive, more visceral as the series has progressed. The pace of Bloodless is relentless as the end nears. And again, I think Terral seriously stuck the landing.
It has to be said, the magic of this series was always fun, but we only got snippets of battles throughout the first two books. Yeah they were action packed to the brim, but this final book took it to 11. Wefts were thrown left and right, people were hewn by the score. It was a bloody good time.
Honestly, The Binding Tenets trilogy is vastly underrated and more people really need check it out. Bloodless is just the perfect ending to a well-written journey of a man shattering the pillars of his beliefs against the true reality of his world. Seriously, go read this trilogy, you won’t be upset. Proud of you, Greg, this trilogy rocks!
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