A POWER UNBOUND
An Indie Next Pick
A LibraryReads Pick
A Most Anticipated Book for BookPage and Paste
A Power Unbound is the final entry in Freya Marske’s beloved, Hugo-nominated Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.
Secrets! Magic! Enemies to… something more?
Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorn, would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. After the death of his twin sister, he thought he was done with magic for good. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual hanging over every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.
Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping an unlikely group of friends track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross.
Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. The aristocratic Lord Hawthorn, with all his unearned power, is everything that Alan hates. And unfortunately, Alan happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.
When a plot to seize unimaginable power comes to a head at Cheetham Hall—Jack’s ancestral family estate, a land so old and bound in oaths that it’s grown a personality as prickly as its owner—Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets, and bloody sacrifice . . . and the foundations of magic in Britain will be torn up by the roots before the end.
Praise for A power unbound
“Messy people and burn-it-down conflict. . . . Marske uses the full span of the trilogy to build to a beautiful, devastating conclusion. . . . Romance runs on undiluted wish fulfillment; sometimes this means give me everything I desire, but other times it means promise me that I can survive the worst.” —The New York Times
“Stunning—the writing is lush, the world-building is fascinating, and the romance is searing hot. I am completely obsessed with this story of unrepentantly dangerous people falling in love with one another.” —Cat Sebastian, author of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb
“A delightful, twisty, endlessly charming romp. I would travel anywhere with these characters.” —Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief
“A charming, heart-thumping close to a world and characters fans won’t be ready to let go of.” —Booklist, starred review
“[A] satisfying conclusion to a charming, queer historical fantasy trilogy.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Marske’s showstopping final Last Binding historical fantasy doubles down on all the romance and magic that made the previous books in the trilogy so delightful. . . . Marske again demonstrates her talent for balancing romance and fantasy action. This does the series proud.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“I squealed with delight. Marske delivers a prickly love story while adeptly tying up all the loose ends of her series, involving a long-ago bargain between human magicians and ancient fae, and how the magic that resulted has been twisted by mortal greed.” —LitHub
“A Power Unbound takes everything that was being built up in A Marvellous Light and A Restless Truth and throws it in your face in a glorious climax that seems to solve both everything and nothing. . . . I honestly cannot recommend this series enough.” —The Geekiary
“A spectacular and satisfying series conclusion…. If you love historical fantasy, complex magic systems (maybe based on ancient contract law?), begrudging groups of friends (dare I say… families of choice), or enemies learning they have more in common than they thought (and falling in love about it!), then this is the series for you!” —Powell’s, Best of 2023
“Fantasy romance with many fascinating characters and a scorching romance.” —BookTrib
Content warnings
- moderate violence
- reference to a past suicide
- period-typical homophobia
- character death (not of main characters)
- explicit sexual content
- consensual roleplay of non-consensual sexual encounters