Holy Sister

By: Mark Lawrence

Narrated by: Heather O'Neill

Length: 13 hrs

Publisher's Summary

The third book in the thrilling and epic Book of the Ancestor trilogy from international best-selling author Mark Lawrence.

Powerful novice Nona Grey must fight to survive in "a fantastic world in which religion and politics are dark and sharp as swords, with magic and might held in the hands of wonderful and dangerous women."

©2019 Boblinga, Ltd. (P)2019 Recorded Books

A bit disappointing.

Loved the first book, the second was good, this last one had good parts. The romance parts of it were forced and awkward. The romance foreshadowing had the soft touch of a surgeon who has held their hands in ice water for 3 hours, then put them into oven mittens. Loved the moment at the wall with Sister Pan, but then things got a bit crazy and could have used more development instead of surprise power ups. When push comes to shove the story had its strong parts, but too many uninteresting and distracting parts.

I do love the way he gives a recap at the beginning and speaks directly to the reader, it feels more respectful in some odd way.

3 people found this helpful

A much better ending than I had ever hoped for.

I was extremely surprised with how this ended. I actually learned something and felt that it was more mature than a lot of fantasy out there. I honestly didn't expect that based on book two. I thought it would just be all action and no meaning. I'm glad I was wrong.

I loved the first book with my whole heart. There were so many quotes that were pure gold. I was enchanted by a new world written with beauty.

Yet, something bothered me a bit. If a story has the clichéd "chosen one" theme, then I get a bit upset when the story isn't told from "the chosen one's" point of view. I spend all this time in someone's head only to have someone else steal all their thunder.

That's how I felt at the end of book 2. I had resigned myself to the idea that this series would end up just with an action fantasy thriller, where the main protagonist gets overshadowed by someone greater. Book one stole my heart. Book two still held it, but a poison sank into my beating heart and left me wondering if I might die a slow death. I had little faith that the third book would live up to the first.

At the beginning of the Holy Sister, I thought my fears were confirmed. It felt like it would be a generic story that had an all too predictable end. I had no idea how the story could possibly end with such a short book.

About halfway through, things started to change in me. I felt like I was learning. I began to see that I had only been scratching the surface of ice wall, and that there was 2 miles of ice below me.

This book isn't about a girl who is the best at everything and who does awesome stuff in awesome ways. Though Nona does do awesome things, if you desire only that, and that alone, you will be left disappointed.

This series is about growth and understanding people. It's about dealing with harsh emotions and learning how to channel them towards something besides bitter resentment and destruction. It's about being human and learning what that means.

I didn't understand that until close to the end. I wept, as I felt that I had learned something about myself while figuring this out. I came into reading this book with all the wrong expectations, and it was those expectations that tainted how I saw the story. Once I let go of them, those arbitrary expectations, I saw the heart of an amazing story that teaches you something and leaves you wondering.

Thank you Mark Lawrence for an amazing journey where my heart was touched and my mind was opened and renewed.

6 people found this helpful

"The Moon... Is...Falling...!"

Lawrence finishes off his trilogy in style! Once again the author manages to bring his narrative to a satisfying close. 4 stars for a gimmick that feels all too similar to his Liar's Key series, and some forced-feeling character behaviours near the end, as well as a bit of literary fluff. These are forgivable, however, as this author manages what SO FEW authors can... he FINISHED THE STORY!! No infinite convolutions with a rushed, awkward ending ala Wheel of Time or Ice & Fire. O'Neil is an absolute STAR in this book - her character acting is varied, interesting, believable, and professionally consistent. No jarring, unmatched inflections (okay maybe 2 in the entire book). You get so wrapped up in her emotive delivery you completely forget you're listening to a story. Truly stellar performance.

2 people found this helpful

Well worth the wait

This was as close to the perfect ending I could have asked for, the stakes were high and the action was thrilling. The ending felt earned and not deus ex good or overly depressing. The narrator did just as well this time as the last two so no complaints there.

My only issue was with the flashbacks and pacing. I just personally didn’t enjoy the flash back sequences that much and felt like it spent a lot of time going into detail on parts that didn’t need as much attention. Other than those small issues if you enjoyed the other books this one will satisfy

5 people found this helpful

Great Series!

Excellent story with a decent ending, but the resolution seems slightly rushed when compared with how thorough the rest of the plot was developed.

1 person found this helpful

I am glad it could finish the story

But I really disliked the pacing..... It took forever to resolve anything. It's like they couldn't let go of the cliffhanger from the last book and kept going back and not answering anything. It was infuriating

1 person found this helpful

interesting, but not incredible.

This book wraps up the trilogy in a fairly satisfactory way, but leaves a little bit to be desired in presentation. there are two narratives through most of the book, and the story eventually leads to a part that was basically from the previous book. Overall enjoyable, and a fascinating blend of SF and Fantasy elements.

1 person found this helpful

Good ending

I've enjoyed the trilogy up to this point and I'm a fan of Lawrence in general but I feel like this book didnt live up to the previous two. Nona feels more Mary Sue than ever and there were a few asspulls and gotcha moments that just felt lazy to me. Still worth the read, definitely recommend the series and the author but just a weak book compared to the other two.

3 people found this helpful

unsatisfying ending

I thought the last half of the book just kind of tapered off. Little excitement

2 people found this helpful

Enh...

The jumping back and forth in the timeline was really aggravating and the ending of the book was rushed and could have been done better. All in all, for Mark Lawrence oh, I'm kind of disappointed.

2 people found this helpful