Sovereign

Soldiers and Swords: Book 3

De: Margaret Couplet

Narrado por: Dan Levy

Clark’s squad is on the run from the entire Dindeary Nation, they may have just defected from the Imperial Army, and Harry has just revealed something that could get them all killed if the wrong person were to find out. They need a plan, some way to save themselves from the storm that would be the entire planet hunting them for sport but when the Milson Family Sword, Linsmora, reveals that the heir to the Dindeary throne is hiding a dangerous secret that could shake the foundations of both countries they may not be able to run.

Adam’s brother is alive and the secret he was keeping on Harry’s behalf is finally out in the open. Life has gotten infinitely more complicated in a variety of ways in the span of one terrible morning and now Linsmora is offering him an opportunity he had never thought possible.

Harry never wanted to rule but it's starting to look like that’s the only option that will keep them all alive and stop the dindeary from falling into outright civil war. After, aren’t those who would be most suited to rule the people that least want to?

©2023 Margaret Couplet (P)2025 Margaret Couplet

Great series overall

This is by one of the best audiobook series I ever listened to and I’ve listened to a whole lot. The storyline literally gets better every single episode and book. Cheers to the author for keeping Adam alive because his my favorite character and cheers to the narrator for the amazing work as well.

Enjoyable story

Interesting overall. I liked the story a lot, but the narration didn’t quite work for me. A lot of the characters sounded too similar to each other.

Interesting World

I've enjoyed this series. It is an interesting and sad world, and I really feel for the characters.

I appreciate the author's note that this was a story she originally wrote in high-school, because it explains some of the gripes I have overall. Mainly, I wish there was a glossary of terms and characters to help keep track of things and get some definitions on the terms used. At one point I even went to the author's website to see if there was one, but I didn’t find one.

Ideas Bigger Than the Page Count

Thankfully, *Sovereign* did begin filling in some of the missing backstory, but it also introduced even more information that wasn’t fully fleshed out. Overall, I think the trilogy’s ideas were simply far bigger than its page count. The sentient swords, consent theme, dindeary history, reincarnated powers, class system, political structure, military specialties, and relationship network could have comfortably filled books twice this length.

The series’ strongest feature is its interpersonal ecosystem: Clark, Adam, and Harry; Martin and Gavin; Squad 42; and the broader collection of people who actively care about one another. Unfortunately, those wonderful relationships exist within a world that lacks the details and descriptions necessary to make it feel real.

The lore, history, politics, and religion are never explained thoroughly enough, leaving the reader confused and frustrated. This series could have benefited greatly from a map and glossary.

Overall, though, it was still entertaining, and it will be interesting to see how Margaret Couplet grows as an author over time.

Dan Levy gave another solid performance, earning 3.5/5 from me.