A Time of Courage

By: John Gwynne

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

In A Time of Courage, angels, demons and heroes face the ultimate fight for the Banished Lands. This is the epic conclusion to John Gwynne's mighty trilogy: Of Blood and Bone.

Battle the dark.
Reclaim the world . . .

The King of the Otherworld is finally free. Armed with fearsome new starstone weapons, Asroth prepares to lead his demonic war-host south. And with the help of his bride, Fritha, he plans to crush the warrior-angels and their allies for good.

In the shadows of Forn Forest, Riv and the surviving Ben-Elim hold a war council ­­– desperate to unite those who would stand against Asroth and his army. They decide to fly west, to join the Order of the Bright Star. But Drem and the Order are already under siege by a demon horde and their fragile defenses may soon shatter.

Across the Banished Lands, armies are gathering to settle ancient grudges and decide the fate of humanity. Drem, Riv and the Bright Star’s warriors will need to call on all their courage as they face the final battle. But will it be enough, as their darkest hour draws near?

'Reminds me of why I became a fantasy enthusiast in the first place' - Robin Hobb on A Time of Dread

'This book is so damned good . . . John Gwynne writes fantasy with the heart of a hero and the inventiveness of a master mage' - Sebastien de Castell on A Time of Blood

Critic reviews

A great read that accelerates the pace and goes one up on its excellent predecessor. The characters also grow with the story, finding peril at every turn and few clear choices. Exciting, action-packed fantasy (Mark Lawrence on A Time of Blood)

This book is so damned good . . . John Gwynne writes fantasy with the heart of a hero and the inventiveness of a master mage (Sebastien de Castell on A Time of Blood)

This is extraordinarily good, an epic feat of the imagination. In this series Gwynne is setting a new benchmark in fantasy. I’d love to see it on screen (Giles Christian on A Time of Blood)

A riveting sequel, full of rousing, cinematic action that propels a wonderfully absorbing story (James Islington on A Time of Blood)

Reminds me of why I became a fantasy enthusiast in the first place (Robin Hobb on A Time of Dread)

Great evils, conflicted heroes, bloody battles, betrayal, and giants riding battle bears! What's not to love?

(Peter Newman on A Time of Dread)

Decent, but over-serious and a bit ridiculous

I enjoyed this series overall, but this last volume reaaaaally dragged. The repetitiveness of the battle descriptions and the cartoonish morality (genocidal good guys vs genocidal bad guys) really started to show well before the end. For a world involving talking crows, magic Frankenstein creations, and lizard- and bear-riding giants, the story was pretty humorless and took itself far too seriously. That said, the author does his homework when it comes to the mundane details of medieval-ish warfare. Not the worst.

The way to end an epic

Not since David Gemmell have I loved characters so much. This is an epic story!

It dragged on and on…

Just an endless story of chopping of heads and limps. (And this is just to comply with Audible’s rule of 15 word minimum in a review (which seems rather stupid ;-))