Somehow disappointing. The first part of the trilogy was a very good story by itself, but the two sequels made it too convoluted. The third part starts slow with all the main characters just goin from one place to another and talking about what are they going to do in the future. Then it starts to speed up, somewhere around 1/3, making the central part of the book quite interesting, and then Ss meet C and *bang!* in a few chapters all mysteries and logic gaps are explained away with even bigger logic gaps, all good-guys-turned-bad are miraculously transformed to saintly good again, the main heros get supersuperpowers on the top of their previous superpowers, everyone forgives everyone and evil is no more. Good night, children. Where "The War with the Mein" was made of iron and gritted teeth, "The Sacred Band" is made of fluffy pillows.What I liked is a very graphic description of Auldek traditions. It's a very interesting race: human, but with a glimpse of prehistoric giant ape here and there; civilised and savage in the same time. I would like to know more of them. A triumphant finish to a weaving, intricate and fantastically intriguing series. I now see that the excessive character development in book two was necessary to dive into the very plot-driven book three. The Sacred Band is amazingly written and centres around the war between the Acacians and the Auldek, the League and Queen Corinn, and the Free People/Clans against everyone. Queen Corinn is having problems taking control of The Song of Elenet, and she is beginning to draw attention to herself. At the same time, Dariel is held up with former Quota slaves, he begins to see and understand their plight more and more. Mena is at the front of a large army against the Auldek, but once she realises their secret, how will she ever win? I can't actually say too much without giving too much away but this is just a perfect ending to the series. I really cared for these characters and many sharp intakes of breath were had in a suspenseful moment. David Anthony Durham is a seamless and beautiful writer and if these are adapted for the big or small screen I would be delighted to re-read them and discover the wonderful world of Acacia, The Known Lands and Ushen Brae all over again.
What do You think about L'Alliance Sacrée (2011)?
Somewhat shaky start, but definitely a nice conclusion to the trilogy.
—eckief
Gave up. Just didn't care about the characters enough to finish it
—Jess
Just the right amount of everything. Nicely done. Entertaining.
—noopur
A great trilogy! I will look forward to Durham's next book.
—akpuski
