Crown of Three: A Kingdom Rises

By J.D. Rinehart

Via; Library

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Pages: 432

Rheeta flew on. She was old. She was tired. But, like Toronia, she was at peace.

She was nearly home.

Ever turn the last page of a book, close the cover, and sigh? Feel like you’re saying goodbye to a dear friend? Wish it could go on and on? And you just don’t want it to end?

That’s what finishing the third and final installment in J.D. Rinehart’s Crown of Three trilogy is like. The third book is called The Kingdom Rises. It’s a little Lord of the Rings-ish. The three triplets also reminded us a little of the Pevensie kiddos of Narnia renown. And that’s pretty rarefied company, indeed.

The Basics

Like: Can thirteen year-old triplets from an ancient prophecy – two boys and a girl – overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to end The Thousand Year War and finally usher in – The Age of Peace for Toronia?

Separated at birth and raised in secret to protect them from the murderous wrath of their villainous father, King Vicerin, Elodie, Gulph and Tarlan live in three different realms. Can they unite the realms in peace with the Crown of Three?

There’s also wyverns with wings of green crystal. Snow-filled songs. Ghosts. Revenge. Red-gold hair. Webs of light. Rainbow storms. Shimmering stars. Crystal towers and three glittering thrones. An ancient prophecy. Soldiers from the Realm of the Dead. Light and color. Heat. Sand. Desert. Forest. Swamps. Jewels. A sea of silver water. Desert magic. A sand spear. A wise, wizened old wizard named Melchior.

And our favorite triplet: Tarlan and his pack. Oh yeah.

Scene stealer: Theeta. Tarlan’s faithful friend and loyal ally, Theeta’s a winged thorrod with a heart of gold.

Note

Note that this book is basically 432 pages of near-constant battle. You barely have time to draw breath from the last fight when you’re chucked into another. It’s exhausting.

We would’ve liked to have seen more of Tarlan’s animal pack in this book, especially Greythorn the Wolf, Filos the blue and white striped Tigron, and Brock the Bear. It was nice to see the triplets finally reunited with their long-lost mum, Kalia. She’s been MIA since Book 1.

Prodigious

Prodigious world-building skills yield an intricate, multi-layered and multi-textured fantasy kingdom teeming with fantastic creatures, dastardly villains, sibling love and unity, loyalty, creativity, and danger lurking around every corner.

The third book tucks in the tail of the trilogy neatly, tying all the loose ends up in a perfect bow. No story arcs are left dangling.

“Thank you,” he (Tarlan) whispered. “Will you come again if I call?” It would. He knew it. They all would. Wyverns and thorrods, wolves and tigrons and bears. His whole pack. Their loyalty to him was beyond question.

Friends & Greatness

As this magical epic trilogy wound down, we felt like we weren’t ready to say goodbye. (Kimber: Mom’s doing that sparkly-eyed sniffly thing again.) We were so invested in some of these characters like Gulph and Elodie and Tarlan, we didn’t want to let them go. They were our friends. Part of the family. And we didn’t want to bid them adieu. Or the book to end. (The Epilogue? Mom cried. You know Mom, right?)

And that, friends, is the hallmark of a Great Read.

Kindly pass the tissue, okay?

Our Rating: 4.5

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