Hero at the Fall (Rebel of the Sands) Hardcover – March 6, 2018

Alwyn Hamilton’s Hero at the Fall brings a thrilling conclusion to the Rebel of the Sands trilogy. This series has been a lot of fun, it shows us djinn in a new way that is familiar yet still unique on its own. I was sad to see this series come to an end, and what feels like so quickly too, even though it has been three years! Alas, Alwyn does it right! This series ends in just the right way!Things are tense with Amani and her friends as they find that they are prisoners in their own city. Except the bars aren’t made of iron or steel, but a ring of fire that the Sultan has created to prevent anyone from coming in or going out without his permission. Amani and crew are determined to rescue their imprisoned friends, among them being Ahmed and put him in his rightful place on the throne. Should be easy! If only they knew where their friends were being imprisoned.This book was quite the adventure! As with last year, I decided I wasn’t waiting until March to read this one, so I ordered the UK copy and happily read it a few weeks early! Plus, I positively adore these covers! We pretty much dive right back into the series where we left off, so if you’ve been waiting to binge read the series, here’s your chance! I highly recommend binge reading too, less waiting periods in between! Naturally, my memory was a little fuzzy on some things, but luckily I had my notes this time around.While Amani and her friends track across the desert trying to gather as much help as they can for the battle that is sure to take place between them and the Sultan, they have in two with them, Leyla, the one who betrayed them all. I was rather surprised by her involvement with things, I mean she was one of the most deceptive people we’ve met in this series and I couldn’t stand her.This story involves a long, long journey it seems. For Amani and crew are pretty much going everywhere, looking for their friends, and gathering allies for the battle to come. While it may seem like things move at a slightly slower pace, I feel like it was just the right pace. There was a lot to be done before the battle with the Sultan.I’m being purposely vague here as I don’t want to give out too much information. Just know that this will be one of the best series finales you’ll read this year! It has the right amount of action, adventure, romance, laughter, and tears. Yes, there will be tears. I can’t remember how many times I might have cried throughout this book! Alwyn pulls no punches, so be prepared!The relationship factor between Amani and Jin continues to grow. All I can say about all the swoony and heated moments between these two was that they were perfect! It’s just the right amount of romance to add to the action that helps to shape this into an incredible read!I guess my only minor issue here was that final battle with the Sultan. I felt like it was rather rushed. I mean after Amani spent so much time with this enemy in the last book, I expected a somewhat drawn out battle mano e mano. What we got was something else. Needless to say, I felt like that could’ve been drawn out just a tad more than it was. The final chapter was a bit of a doozie as well. While it was satisfying for the most part, I felt like something was missing from it too. It’s told like a story, like the few chapters we’ve encountered before. I thought it was fitting to end it like that, but at the same time I felt like I wanted to know more about all that happened that wasn’t quite said.Despite those minor hang-ups regarding the ending, this was a most fantastical kind of read! Amani is one of those amazing heroines that comes into her own as the series goes on. I love seeing that transition from being powerless to the powerful hero! She was amazing as was the series as is the author! While I am always saddened when a series comes to an end, I do enjoy a good ending instead of needlessly drawing the story out. Alwyn ends this story in the most satisfying of ways! I will be looking forward to pretty much whatever she writes next!Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

Hero at the Fall was the most amazing series ending book! Every book in the Rebel of the Sands series just kept getting better and better. I knew I would like this book but I ended up loving it so much because it went so beyond all my expectations. I was basically sobbing uncontrollably towards the end of this book. The characters were amazing and there was magic, so much magic! Who does not love that?! I loved the growth of Amani’s character, especially in this book as she learned how to truly control her powers. There were also many reveals in this book and so many questions were answered, it was so satisfying!There was much going against Amani and her group of rebels. She had already lost many people that she cared about and who had depended upon her that she carried a heavy heart. Even though she rebelled against the idea, she had been put in charge of the rebels because Prince Ahmed had been imprisoned and it was up to the rebels to get him out. This was Amani’s main focus because all she wanted to do was to hand the responsibility back to him. Although that may have been her driving force, over the course of her book Amani grew and her desires slowly changed and that drove this plot.This story was filled with many twists and turns. There were situations that Amani encountered that were quite surprising. I was shocked by some of the plot twists and there was never a moment where the plot became stagnant. It was such a strong plot that kept my eyes glued to the pages. Over the series, I had become quite invested in all the characters and to read the sacrifices that were being made by these characters in this rebellion made this story quite emotional for me. It was such a rewarding reading experience!What truly sealed this series as one of my favorites was the relationships that were built between the characters. Every relationship was meaningful and everyone mattered. I loved how deeply Amani cared for all her friends and how they in turned cared about each other. I can’t even start with how much I loved Amani and Jin’s relationship, that was truly one of the most beautiful relationships! Overall, Hero at the Fall was a remarkable work of fiction. I highly recommend that, if you haven’t already, you start this series, it is one that I can read and read again. It is truly an amazing series!

a Djinni may grant it. What an epic conclusion! Alwyn Hamilton is an incredible writer who weaves intense action with personal peril, overarching themes of what it is to be human – and not human, the lengths humans, Demdji, and Djinn will go for love and loyalty. Her prose varies from the intensely personal to a mythological storyteller looking back through the ages at the present day. In all that she engages us in the peril, the heartache, and the risk while she whips us about with dust and sand that rips our hearts apart.This is a truly satisfying conclusion, but be prepared with a box of Kleenex, true love does not end with a kiss, and while many died in book 2, there are those we care about in book 3 who will live on only in memory. Prisoners are freed, traitors redeemed, lives won and lost, and the kingdom trembles in the balance. What is the price of triumph?Myths are re-written, heroes resurrected, cities discovered and lost, Djinn released from the imprisonment of millennia. Move aside or join the cause; legends walk among us as new stories are indelibly etched on the collective memory of a nation.If you love Brandon Sanderson, Connie Willis, Louis McMaster Bujold or any of the other science fantasy greats, you will love Hero at the Fall. Highly recommended. If you haven’t read the other books in this series, this is not a standalone novel; start with  Rebel of the Sands . You'll be glad that you did!

KEY WORDS: Middle-Eastern Fantasy, rebellions, djinn, perfect conclusion, perfect couple. Yes.I’m going to start at the end (spoiler-free) because I want to be super positive about this. The final chapter was probably one of my favourite series conclusions I have ever read (just behind A Conjuring of Light and Our Dark Duet) because it tied up the whole entire three books in an expertly crafted way, summarising the rebellion, the uprising, the lives lost and where Miraji could go from there. It didn’t answer all the questions but it didn’t leave you burning and angry for everything unanswered. It was the perfect ending and that chapter alone made up for any sins the rest of the novel had.I loved this book. But it was slow. Maybe that was just my brain and its desperation for the series not to end but it felt slow to me, less enjoyable in the middle, a bit like it was plodding from one big, impactful scene to the next. BUT, those big, impactful scenes were everything. I cried so many times when I wasn’t expecting to. I forgot how connected I was to these character and how in love with Jinn and Amani I was. And boy do those two just fill my heart with love. One of the most perfect OTPs, for sure."But he wondered if a boy from the sea and a girl from the desert could ever survive together. He feared that she might burn him alive or that he might drown her. Until finally he stopped fighting it and set himself on fire for her."My absolute highlights were the short chapters. In between each big event, there is a short chapter, told third person about various situations the rebels find themselves in, written as though a bard/storyteller is speaking of these characters as myths and legends of the past. These moments were my favourite and if I could frame each tale on my walls, I would.I’m not really sure how much more I have to say, because I could gush for days but I really want this to be spoiler-free. The most important thing I can say is that if you loved the rest of this series then this books will only impress you. It is a really beautiful conclusion and Hamilton’s writing is definitely something to watch. I’m so excited to see what she does next.TL;DR – A perfect conclusion. My heart is so full and this ending was everything I needed it to be. Constantly twisting and turning away from my predictions.

I am exhausted in the way only books can exhaust you in the best possible way.Hero at the Fall begins maybe a few days or so from where we ended in Traitor to the Throne, with a very beaten down and broken rebellion. Their leader and general captured along with the majority of the rest, the few still free, now led by Amani, struggle to come up with a solid plan to retaliate against the Sultan. One thing they know for sure is that they need to save their friends, but with time clearly not on their side who will be left alive if and when they finally reach them.My complete and utter love for this trilogy has seemingly come out of nowhere. I really liked Rebel of the Sands but it was definitely Traitor to the Throne that fully had me invested in this story and its characters. Since this is the authors first novels I had no idea what this final chapter would be like. Would Alwyn Hamilton be the author that kills everyone? Will she put them all in near-death experiences only to have them pull through at the last minute? Will she kill all my faves?I didn't know.I do now.See, Alwyn Hamilton is one of the worst kinds of authors. She is constantly playing with your heart. Shame on you!Honestly, there wasn't a page in this book that I read without gripping fear coursing through every part of me. The suspense and pacing was masterful. I didn't want to put it down because I needed to know, but I was also tentative to read it because I was scared of what I would find. This shows how much Hamilton has made me care for these characters over the course of these books. I just want them all to be happy and safe and alive! I didnt' think that was too much to ask.The world just keeps getting bolder and bigger. With each book it has become more vivid and amazing in my mind. This is the first book in this trilogy to feature a map at the front and I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend a good 5 minutes, both before and after, just looking at the map and thinking of how far our rebellion has travelled. I would also flick to it at some points during the book to see where we were. The magic and the Djinni are amazing! I want to be a Djinni! Seriously Amani makes a boat sail over sand, that would be awesome!I adore these characters. It was the main thing that stuck out for me a year and a half ago when I first read Rebel and I still love them now. I think if you're going to include things like war or a rebellion were the reader will pick a side you have to have characters the reader can really root for otherwise they may not pick the side they're supposed to. Trust me I was fully rooting for the other side in Zenith. With this trilogy I have never not been fully rooting for the rebellion and that is because the characters are extremely likeable and Hamilton never tries to make them what they aren't.Something that stood out for me in Hero is that Amani never acts as if she knows what she's doing when it comes to leading the rebels in Ahmed and Shazad's absence. She is constantly thinking about what they would do and trying to be like them and it's a change from heroins seemingly knowing what to do in every circumstance. Every character has their strengths and each has their flaws, but they never try to hind them from each other. They admire each others strengths and support each others weaknesses and they feel like a family. There's nothing fake and the friendship and love they have each other is so well written.I've always loved how it never felt like Hamilton was forcing Amani and Jin's relationship on you. it has never been the primary focus but it is there and it comes across so natural and I love that. I also love Amani and Shazad's friendship it is seriously underrated. I truly adore these characters and there was many a time I had tears in my eyes when reading. Sometimes it was when a character died, others it was just from the thought of one dying.One thing I will say, is that if you are expecting this book to be one big battle you will come up a little short here. I didn't realise until after I had finished it, but the final battle is like 30/40 pages long. We spend the majority of the book searching for and trying to save Ahmed, Shazad and company from captivity. I'd be lying if I said I thought this was how the book was going to go. I thought we'd have everybody out within the first quarter, halfway at the least. However, that wasn't the case because, obviously, things would be too easy that way. But, like I said, I didn't realise this until after I had read the book so the lack of big battles does not slow the pace at all.I will admit, I think I preferred Traitor so I may have to bump that one up to 5 stars.I don't want to end this review, because then it makes this trilogy ending more real and I don't want to say goodbye to this yet. It is a very fitting conclusion. The final chapter is more like an epilogue and fully ties this trilogy up, ends it and lets you know the fates and lives of much loved characters. It's very satisfying. It's one of those ending that makes you sit there for about 5 minutes because you have no idea what else to do. I still don't know what to do and it's been about 4 hours since I finished it.

Reading ‘Hero at the Fall’ the final book in the Rebel of the Sands trilogy by Alwyn Hamilton did not disappoint - maintaining the pace and heartfelt intensity of the first two books. It was the sort of book that, whilst reading, may cause a person to forget to eat and sleep in their eagerness to keep discovering what happens on the next page.Following two books of Amani and her friends’ fraught and emotional journey, this book is the climax to all she’s learnt about herself and the world she lives in. This is a showdown of power, society’s rule and the individual relationships within. This made me laugh and cry, gasp and groan. I won’t give away any details but, suffice to say, it is an emotional rollercoaster of adventure that doesn’t disappoint in delivering the action or the quieter emotional moments.Alwyn Hamilton’s writing style means she wastes no words, delivering vast detail and depth in an effortless way that is a delight to read. She’s brought the series to a masterful end. Yet, I was bereft that it was over. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next. If you haven’t read this trilogy, I recommend you do.

Action-packed, djinni-filled amazingness. I could not put this book down. I loved the first two books of this series so much, and that did not change with this conclusion. I have never read a series where an author is so consistent in the fact that they write equally great books in a trilogy, until I read these.I had been dying to find something to help cure my The City of Brass book-hangover, and these books did just that. Every fantasy lover should read them.

Amazing, this series has left me breathless, made me she's tears and kept me on my toes. In this final book the unfolding of the story was way better than I had anticipated. I think no I know this to be my new favourite book series. Will highly recommend to everyone.Amazing read.