Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Literary Trilogies

On November 23, 2021 By The Unseen LibraryIn List10 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. While the official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday required participants to list the 10 characters they would love an update on, I have decided to do something a little different, and instead will be listening my favourite literary trilogies.

Trilogies in literature are a long-running and deeply fun tradition that packs an epic connected tale, into three consecutive novels. There are some truly amazing trilogies out there, from the classics, like The Lord of the Rings, to some recent trilogies that I have been deeply enjoying. Indeed, 2021 alone has seen the end of several epic and outstanding literary trilogies. I just finished one particularly incredible trilogy, and it got me thinking about some of the other amazing three-book series I have read. That inspired me and I thought I would take this opportunity to try and list my 10 favourite novel trilogies of all time. I have had the great pleasure of reading some truly awesome and exciting trilogies over the years, and I feel this is the perfect time to highlight them, especially if anyone is looking for a new trilogy/series to get addicted to.

This proved to be a fun list to pull together, especially as I had a great wealth of potential trilogies to feature on this list. To be eligible for this list, the proposed trilogy must consist of three, inter-connected novels. I only included series that were intended to end after three novels, rather than by happenstance, so that means that series like The Gentleman Bastards will not be featured (it technically has a fourth novel on the way). I also excluded trilogies that I have not yet completed, even if I have already read and deeply enjoyed the first two novels. This is because I really need to see how the third book turns out, as a bad third entry can easily spoil a trilogy that starts out with some fantastic novels.

Even with these restrictions, I ended up with a descent list of trilogies, which took me a little while to cull down and which resulted in a good honourable mentions section. I am judging these trilogies on several factors, including how complete their story is, how well connected the novels are, and whether the component novels provide good introductions, conclusions and connections to the other books in the trilogy. I am pretty happy with how this latest Top Ten Tuesday turned out, and I think that perfectly represents the best trilogies that I have so far finished.

Honourable Mentions:

The Wounded Kingdom trilogy by R. J. Barker

A fun and awesome dark fantasy trilogy that follows an assassin as he finds himself fighting for the future of a kingdom. Featuring a great first novel (Age of Assassins), a powerful middle entry (Blood of Assassins) and an epic ending (King of Assassins), this debut series from R. J. Barker was pretty damn awesome and really worth a read.

Discworld – Moist von Lipwig trilogy by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett’s exceptional Discworld series featured several interconnected sub-series and standalone reads, but only the Moist von Lipwig books can really be considered a trilogy. Made up of Going Postal, Making Money and Raising Steam, these are some of Pratchett’s final books, and have a different, but still entertaining, writing stye to them. While I love these three novels, I have decided to leave this trilogy as an honourable mention due to its potential premature ending and its complex status within the larger Discworld series.

Royal Bastards trilogy by Andrew Shvarts

A fantastic and clever young adult fantasy series that followed the illegitimate children of treacherous nobles as they try to right the wrongs of their parents. Consisting of Royal Bastards, City of Bastards and War of the Bastards, this is an impressive and captivating trilogy with some dark storylines and complex characters.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I had to include the iconic Hunger Games novels by Suzanne Collins on this list. Made up of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, this is a great and fast-paced dystopian series that I have read a few times now. All three novels are a lot of fun, although the first book is probably the best. A recent prequel novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out last year and is also worth a read.

Top Ten List:

The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Let us start this list off with the dark fantasy masterpiece that is Joe Abercrombie’s epic and exceptional The First Law trilogy. Consisting of The Blade Itself, Before they are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings, this amazing trilogy follows a group of extremely complex and damaged characters as they attempt to navigate a dark world filled with betrayal, uncontrolled ambition, and all manner of monsters. All three books are pretty incredible, with The Blade Itself providing an outstanding introduction, while Last Argument of Kings wraps everything up perfectly and leaves the reader with a troubling but memorable conclusion. I powered through this trilogy in a very short time, and it remains one of my all-time favourite pieces of fantasy fiction.

Star Wars: Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn

Next, we have an amazing and complex Star Wars series by the legendary Timothy Zahn, who brings back his iconic extended universe character, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Based in the new Disney canon, the Thrawn trilogy seeks to expand on the character’s appearances in Star Wars: Rebels and presents a complex and intriguing picture of this master tactician. Featuring Thrawn, Alliances and Treason, this is a very well balanced and fascinating trilogy that is a must read for all Star Wars fans and is probably worth checking out before the character’s live action debut next year. I was also tempted to include Zahn’s Thrawn Ascendancy novels (made up of Chaos Rising, Greater Good and Lesser Evil), but I am only halfway through the final book, and I really want to see how it concludes first.

The Icewind Dale trilogy by R. A. Salvatore

Iconic fantasy author, R. A. Salvatore, has made a career out of writing trilogies, and there were several I could have included, especially his Dark Elf trilogy. However, I think that his debut Icewind Dale series, is his most consistently impressive trilogy. While the first novel, The Crystal Shard is a tad rough, the second and third books, Streams of Silver and The Halfling’s Gem, more than make up for it, and produce a brilliant overall story. This series expertly introduces several of Salvatore’s key protagonists (who he is still writing about to this day) and sets up some outstanding plot points. High fantasy at its very best, The Icewind Dale trilogy is an intense, classic trilogy that I can read again and again.

The Century trilogy by Ken Follett

Another author with some big series under his belt is talented thriller and historical fiction author Ken Follett. My personal favourite Follett series is The Century trilogy, a massive and comprehensive historical fiction trilogy, made up of Fall of Giants, Winter of the World and Edge of Eternity. This book takes place throughout the 20^th century and follows three generations of several families as they navigate the century’s big historical events, including two world wars and the Cold War. Some of the best historical fiction writing you are ever likely to see; this is a powerful and captivating series.

The Tide Child trilogy by R. J. Barker

The trilogy that inspired me to write this list was the exceptional The Tide Child trilogy by rising fantasy fiction start R. J. Barker. Barker did some incredible work here producing an intense and addictive dark fantasy series that takes place primarily on a naval vessel made from dragon bones. With some exceptional character work, beautifully written scenes, and some truly unique fantasy features, The Tide Child series is one of the absolute best fantasy trilogies out there. All three novels, The Bone Ships (one of the best books and audiobooks of 2019), Call of the Bone Ships, and The Bone Ship’s Wake, are exceptional and enchanting reads, which come together to form a brilliant and highly recommend trilogy.

Planetside trilogy by Michael Mammay

Another great trilogy I finished this year was Michael Mammay’s outstanding Planetside science fiction thriller trilogy. Consisting of Planetside (one of the best books of 2018), Spaceside and Colonyside (one of the best books and audiobooks from the first half of this year), this epic trilogy follows a cynical military veteran who is dragged in to investigate a series of conspiracies, which continually forces him to commit genocide. One of the cleverest series I have read in recent years, Mammay is an exceptional author, and I had a lot of fun getting through this trilogy.

The Age of Madness trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

Not content with only having one exceptional fantasy trilogy, Joe Abercrombie had to double down and write the epic sequel trilogy, The Age of Madness. Set a generation after The First Law trilogy, the three Age of Madness novels, A Little Hatred, The Trouble with Peace and The Wisdom of Crowds, contains another outstanding dark fantasy tale following a whole new group of complex and troubled protagonists. This brilliant trilogy has only just come to an end and featured three outstanding five-star reads. These amazing novels form a deeply thrilling and powerful trilogy, and The Age of Madness books are some of the best pieces of fantasy fiction of the last three years.

The Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

I was spoiled for choice when it came to Raymond E. Feist and his multitude of great trilogies, from his iconic Riftwar Saga to his current The Fireman Saga (King of Ashes and Queen of Storms). However, I think his most consistent and impressive trilogy was The Empire trilogy he cowrote with Janny Wurts. Set at the same time as the Riftwar Saga, this trilogy explored an alien fantasy world with some major Japanese influences. An intense and action-packed fantasy trilogy loaded with political intrigue, family feuds and a female ruler battling for control in a male-dominated world, The Empire books, Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire, form an exceptional trilogy that is really worth reading.

Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy by Alexander Freed

Another exceptional trilogy that finished this year was the amazing Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron series by Alexander Freed. Made up of Alphabet Squadron, Shadow Fall and Victory’s Price, this trilogy followed a group of pilots in the immediate aftermath of Return of the Jedi, as they continue to fight the brutal war to claim the universe. This trilogy combined a gritty and complex war story with the iconic Star Wars universe to create three impressive novels that work brilliantly as an overarching series. All three books are really good, although Victory’s Price proved to be an exceptional conclusion that brought everything together perfectly. A great read for Star Wars fans looking for some darker tie-in content.

Swords and Fire trilogy by Melissa Caruso

The final entry on this list is the debut trilogy from talented fantasy author Melissa Caruso. Featuring The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir, and The Unbound Empire, the Swords and Fire trilogy tells the tale of the unlikely partnership of an ambitious noble and a reckless, ultra-powerful mage, whose fates are literally bound together. This is an amazing and inventive fantasy trilogy that pits this duo against conspiracies, a nation of terrifying magical users, and their own substantial personal issues. I deeply enjoyed this cool trilogy and I really need to start reading the sequel series Caruso is currently working on.

Well, that’s the end of this list. As you can see, I have read some awesome trilogies over the years, and I think this list does a great job highlighting them all. I will probably end up coming back to this list at some point in the future, especially as there are some outstanding trilogies, I am currently in the middle of that will easy make this list in the future. In the meantime, let me know what your favourite trilogies are in the comments below.

War of the Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

On June 25, 2019August 22, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Five-Star Books, LGBT+, Young Adult11 Comments

Publisher: Hyperion (Hardcover – 4 June 2019)

Series: Royal Bastards trilogy – Book 3/Final

Length: 392 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon Book Depository

War, rebellion, magic and one hell of kickass story! Shvarts brings the outstanding Royal Bastards trilogy to an end with War of the Bastards, the relentlessly entertaining conclusion that rounds out the series with an epic bang. The Royal Bastards trilogy is the debut work of author Andrew Shvarts, who has produced an incredible young adult fantasy series that has been an absolute delight to read over the last three years. Set in the fantasy nation of Noveris, the series follows the adventures of its protagonist, Tilla, and her friends as they try to navigate the treachery and war that has engulfed their nation.

I had an absolute blast reading the second book in the trilogy, City of Bastards, last year. Not only did the book feature a compelling story style and an amazingly captivating plot, but it ended with an outstanding cliff hanger with the protagonist failing to stop the antagonist’s sinister plot, which results in the entire royal family being killed off and the enemy gaining control of the throne. This was such an epic ending, especially because the massacre of the entire royal family was just so unexpected (I really was expecting a last-minute rescue from the protagonists), and I have been extremely curious to see how this story ended for quite a while.

It has been a year since the destructive events that changed Noveris forever. After orchestrating the explosion that decimated the royal court of Noveris, killing the King and Queen and most of Noveris’s nobles, Lord Elric Kent has assumed the throne. With a huge number of powerful bloodmages under the command of his ruthless Inquisitor, Miles Hampstedt, Kent’s rule over Noveris looks to be nearly absolute. However, many are still fighting back against the despotic new rule, including Kent’s bastard daughter, Tilla.

Tilla is a member of the resistance group known as the Unbroken, which fights to return Tilla’s friend, the rightful Queen, Lyriana Volaris, back to the throne. With the help of her lover, Zell, and Lyriana’s cousin, Ellarion, Tilla and the Unbroken are engaged in a brutal guerrilla war against the new regime. However, the situation looks dire and victory near impossible to achieve, until a mission to rescue a major source of rebel intelligence reveals that their informant was none other than King Kent himself. Kent’s rule has been usurped by Miles, whose absolute control over the bloodmages has allowed him to take over Noveris without anyone noticing. While attempting to deal with the implications of capturing Tilla’s father, the Unbroken also free Syan Syee, a young woman from the Red Wastes with mysterious magical powers, who brings an urgent message to the people of Noveris. Syan warns of a coming apocalypse and believes that defeating Miles is the key to stopping it. Needing new allies, Tilla, Lyriana, Zell, Ellarion, Kent and Syan journey to the Red Wastes, hoping to recruit Syan’s people to their cause. However, what they discover in the Red Wastes will change everything. With this new knowledge, can Tilla and her friends save Noveris, or will Miles’s lust for power and control tear their world apart?

Before I started reading this book, I honestly thought that Shvarts was going to have an extremely hard time matching the awesomeness of City of Bastards. However, I am pleased to report that War of the Bastards is an incredible and massively compelling read that I enjoyed just as much as the second book in the series. While it may lack the shocking cliff hanger ending of City of Bastards, War of the Bastards has an excellent fast-paced story that proves extremely hard to put down once you start.

I really loved the story contained within War of the Bastards and felt that it was an amazing conclusion to the trilogy. The tale of an epic battle to free a kingdom is a classic, but the author has put some fantastic modern twists on it, and his entertaining writing style and dedication to bringing out huge moments, really turns this into something special. Shvarts has included a number of cool twists and turns throughout this book, and I really liked where the story went at times. There was also a slight turn away from fantasy towards another genre about two-thirds through the story that proved to be a bit surprising, but I found it to be an interesting addition to the story. Without giving too much away, I was very satisfied with the clever way that the antagonist was taken down at the end of the book, and it was a nice call-back to earlier events in the series. I really enjoyed how this story turned out, and it was an outstanding conclusion to the epic tale that had been told throughout the Royal Bastards trilogy.

In the previous books in the series, the author tended to only set the story in one general setting, such as the West for the first book and the Lightspire for the second book. In War of the Bastards, Shvarts continues to expand on his fantasy world, but this time he takes his characters to several new locations that had been alluded to in the other books. The story starts in the Heartlands and focuses on the characters fighting their guerrilla war there. This land has been transformed by the oppression of Kent and Miles, and it was intriguing to see how bad things had gotten under their rule. The protagonists also journey through the Southlands and the Red Wastes, both of which are pretty fascinating and distinctive locales. The Red Wastes was definitely the most unique location, ravaged by terrifying magical storms and featuring interesting new civilisation. Overall, these new locations are pretty cool, and readers will enjoy exploring more of this great fantasy world.

One of the major strengths of Shvarts’s previous books has been the excellent character work. Each of the major characters has gone through tremendous growth through the course of the first two books, and this growth has continued through the course of War of the Bastards. Tilla has gone from being two different types of social outcast (a bastard in the first book and a traitor’s daughter in the second) to a respected rebel warrior fighting the good fight. However, despite knowing she is fighting for what is right, Tilla is not natural killer and has to constantly deal with the guilt of her actions, keeping a running mental count of all those she has killed. She also has to finally come to terms with her strained relationship with her father once he joins them on their quest. Due to her status as a bastard, her father has always kept a certain distance with her. Now, with him joining their band, Tilla is forced to have several emotional confrontations with him over the terrible things he has done in previous books and how he treated her in the past. This results in some dramatic moments within the book, and the exploration of their relationship makes for great reading. Tilla still serves as the book’s narrator and point-of-view character, and it is through her eyes that we see the story unfold. This is extremely fortunate, as her sassy and sarcastic outlook on the events occurring around her leads to a lot of the book’s humour. All in all, I have always found Tilla to be a pretty awesome main character, and it was great to see how her story ended.

In addition to Tilla, the other three main characters from the previous Royal Bastards books all get great character arcs within this book. Lyriana spends this book as the Queen in exile of her people and is burdened with the responsibility of being a figurehead. However, she rises to the challenge and proves herself to be powerful badass and war leader thanks to her epic magical abilities. This was a massive change in her character from the second book, where she was devastated with loss and trauma, and it was great to see her at her full potential. Readers will also like the new relationship she finds herself in, and it was nice to see her finally get some emotional happiness. I would say that Zell is character least utilised in this book, but we do get to witness him trying to come to terms with guilt from the previous book thanks to the inadvertent role he had in facilitating the massacre. The character most impacted by the events of the previous book is Ellarion, Lyriana’s cousin and the most powerful magician in the lands. He lost his hands at the end of City of Bastards when defending his friends from the massive explosion and must now learn how to live without them and, more importantly, the magic they allowed him to perform. Shvarts did an amazing job portraying Ellarion’s despair at his situation and the longing he has for his lost magical arts. Some interesting things happen to him in this book and he has a major moment that readers will absolutely love.

Two new characters join the main characters in this book: Syan from the Red Wastes and Tilla’s father, Lord Kent. Syan is a pretty cool lesbian character who has some significant secrets in her past. Shvarts does a great job telling her entire story within this one book, and I found her to be quite an enjoyable character. Lord Kent was another fantastic addition to the main group of protagonists. While he has appeared in both of the previous books in the trilogy, we have never really gotten his side of the story before. In addition to all the drama surrounding his relationship with Tilla, we also get to see his motivations for his actions, as well as the regret for what he has brought about. I really liked the inclusion of Kent in War of the Bastards and thought it was a clever touch from Shvarts because of all the extra emotional complexities and drama he brings to the story.

I should quickly mention the main antagonist of this book, Miles. Miles has always been a pretty unlikeable character, especially after betraying the group in the first book due to his jealousy over Tilla choosing Zell. Shvarts really makes him even more despicable in War of the Bastards by showing him as the facilitator of all the worst things that have been done in Noveris in the last year. Later confrontations with him reveal that he has no remorse and really does not see himself as the bad guy. His continued obsession with Tilla is pretty messed up (cough, harem, cough), but I do like how that was used against him at times. Overall, Miles makes for an excellent series villain, and Shvarts did an amazing job utilising him in this final book.

The author has a very creative mind when it comes to the magic and fantasy elements contained within this series. The magical abilities and rules that govern the lands of Noveris are extremely interesting and have led to some impressive magical destruction and battles in the past. Shvarts continues to do this in the final book, and the exploration of the origins of magic and the devastating consequences of using it are really fascinating. Shvarts came up with some cool and unique new magical abilities in War of the Bastards, especially for the magic utilised by the people of the Red Wastes. The author has been really creative in this final book, and I am sure readers will like some of the ideas he comes up with.

Like the previous books in the series, War of the Bastards is being marketed towards the young adult audience. However, it should only really be read by the older teen audience, as it features a lot of adult content. While it does not have as much sex, drugs and drinking as City of Bastards did, it does feature a heck of a lot more violence, and some of the action scenes are pretty gruesome. This does mean the book is really easy for older readers to enjoy, and I would strongly recommend this to all adult fantasy readers.

While I am sad to see the Royal Bastards series end, War of the Bastards was such an incredible conclusion to the story that it does not seem too devastating. Due to its near perfect blend of electrifying story content, excellent characters and entertaining writing style, I found that it was near impossible to put War of the Bastards down, and I had an amazing time reading it. This is easily a five-star read, and I reckon this is my favourite young adult book of 2019 so far. With his debut trilogy, Andrew Shvarts has shown himself to be an extremely talented author, and I will be eagerly keeping an eye out for his next series.

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