The House of Sacrifice by Anna Smith Spark (Empires of Dust #3)

The House of Sacrifice receives the fitting conclusion. Marith receives the happy ending he merits. I have to admit that I had some concerns coming into this because authors frequently don’t end their works in the best possible way. They avoid taking chances. They end them with sweet, fluffy lines. They package it and decorate it with a lovely bow. This was never going to happen here. I’m happy Anna Smith Spark has the guts to put a proper cap on this. One of the darkest fantasy trilogies, it required an equally dark conclusion.

The tragic love affair between two psychopaths at the centre of the narrative finds refuge in their common sense of vileness and sadistic tendencies. They both are wicked. And they were destined to be together. Every day, they consider killing one another, and on a few instances, they almost go close. They adore one another. They despise one another. They are stranded together because no one else in the world has the capacity to comprehend how twisted, evil, and far gone they have become. Both of them are monsters. And because the story was about more than just murder, this dynamic really elevated it to a whole new level. I would like to say that they were redeemed by their love, that it made them better people, but it didn’t.

Marith makes for a compelling case study. He is less fortunate than Jorg Ancrath, but he is also more human. He does not want to be this dark, but he must understand that it is a part of him that he will never be able to rid himself of. For better or worse, it’s part of who he is. And he does feel bad about what he did. He kills kids, then the next day cries about it. He orders his dragons to destroy his camp’s adherents before wailing over those he has slaughtered. He is aware of guilt.

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This definitely makes him an even worse person because he knows what he’s doing is wrong, but he still does it. I nearly feel bad for him. His fate cannot be changed. He was created just for death and ruin; he has no other knowledge. He also gradually sank into despair and psychosis over the series. When everything has been wiped out, what is left to kill? When you control the entire planet, what is left to conquer? Nothing.

Such a tale could only have one possible resolution. Additionally, it was delivered with the skill of a poet who is utterly at ease with her trade. Through this series, Anna Smith Spark has developed as a writer, and I can’t wait to see what she may write next. She has demonstrated that she can keep up with the top authors in the genre, therefore I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her future works. Make room for the Queen of Grimdark, who is prepared to lead the charge in a fresh wave of dark fantasy literature, as Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, and Mark Lawrence do.