There’s just nothing quite like a satisfying conclusion to a stellar trilogy. I’ve been eagerly awaiting A Power Unbound, the conclusion to Freya Marske’s The Last Binding series, which finally came out earlier this month. I was sucked into Marske’s intricate world of Edwardian magic from the first few pages of A Marvellous Light and fell even more in love with the series and its recurring characters when I read Book 2, A Restless Truth. With A Power Unbound, Freya Marske does a masterful job of rounding off the series and orchestrating a large cast of characters and complex plot to a satisfying conclusion.
After being roped into Violet and Maud’s schemes aboard the Lyric, Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorne finds himself reluctantly dragged back into magical society and adopted into a strange little found family of magicians and non-magicians alike who are determined to prevent the pieces of the Last Contract from falling into the wrong hands. Violet and Maud managed to escape the ship in possession of the cup, one of three magical items that symbolize the contract with the fae that granted the magicians of Britain their power. But George Bastoke has the coin and is determined to get his hands on all three pieces of the contract so that he can perform a ritual that would transfer all of Britain’s magic to himself. Now the race is on as both sides search desperately for the third item, the knife, which may be hidden somewhere inside the temperamental magical house that Violet has just inherited. Jack knows just how dangerous George’s schemes can be—in fact George was once involved in a much smaller plot to steal power that cost Jack his magic and the life of his beloved twin sister. As if this old trauma rearing its head again weren’t enough, there’s also Alan Rossi, the infuriating thief and journalist who seems to exist solely to get under Jack’s skin. When Alan shows up on their doorstep asking for favors, Jack knows getting involved with him is probably a bad idea … and yet he can’t resist.
A recurring thread in this series is the way Freya Marske uses the romantic relationships at the center of each book to explore and help heal the characters’ traumas. The relationship between Jack and Alan is particularly volatile and challenging to navigate. Jack has spent the last sixteen years emotionally isolated, cutting himself off from friends and family after the violent loss of his sister and his magic. But when he sees the vulnerability that Alan offers to him during their games of sexual power play, he feels compelled to open himself up in return. Alan, meanwhile, has spent his life enduring the endless indignities of poverty, and that experience has informed his passionate political beliefs and anti-aristocratic sentiments. Yet he harbors secret sexual fantasies of being under another man’s power. In his relationship with Jack, he learns how to walk the delicate tightrope of indulging the playful fantasy while navigating the very real gulf of power that exists between them. As the two broken men slowly heal the wounds inside themselves and each other, their questionable liaison transforms into a true connection based in love and trust.
The power dynamics at the center of Jack and Alan’s relationship reflect a larger question about power at the heart of this novel. George Bastoke and his allies believe that power is best concentrated in the hands of a few great men who can serve as leaders to the undeserving masses. But our heroes have spent the series learning how disparities in power can lead to terrible suffering. In A Marvellous Light, Robin experienced firsthand how vulnerable the non-magical population can be when a magician wishes them harm. And in A Restless Truth, Violet and Maud saw how women deprived of a magical education must dedicate their lives to developing their own unique magic systems if they want to come even close to standing on equal ground with men. A Power Unbound explores how class differences can only further entrench the power disparities in the magical world. Preventing an unimaginable amount of power from falling into the wrong hands would be an admirable enough goal on its own, but Jack, Alan, and their friends may also have the opportunity to help build a more equitable society for all.
If you love magic, found families, and spicy romance thoughtfully executed, you don’t want to miss this thrilling conclusion to the Last Binding trilogy. You can find A Power Unbound on shelves now at your favorite local retailer, or buy a copy online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. Once you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments!