{"id":22559,"date":"2023-11-27T21:25:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T02:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22559"},"modified":"2026-05-07T21:01:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:01:54","slug":"a-power-unbound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22559","title":{"rendered":"A Power Unbound"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Power Unbound<\/em><\/a> (2023) Freya Marske<\/a> (The Last Binding)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Set in England in 1909<\/p>\n

The final book in the Last Binding Trilogy centers on Alston, Lord Hawthorn who has been arrogant and supercilious throughout the series, but here becomes Jack, and Alan, Alanzo Rossi, who met Alston, Maud, and Violet on the ship from America back to England.<\/p>\n

Now Jack needs to keep his cousin and Edwin’s brother from stealing the Contract–and the magic of all the magicians of England.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrisis,\u201d said Jack, \u201cis an excellent justification for the seizure of power.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alan Ross was unbusheled aboard the Lyric, and found himself curious about magic–and what crazy aristocrats were willing to do to protect it.<\/p>\n

But the only thing Alanzo holds precious and worth saving is his family.<\/p>\n

Alan Ross was a sharp, careful Londoner with an employable accent, who just happened to turn a nice burnished colour in the sun. Alanzo Rossi now existed only under this roof, with these people. <\/p>\n

So yes: Alanzo Rossi slipped into Italian when he could, if only to savour the feel of it in his mouth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The book opens with the events that caused Jack to lose his magic–and his twin–and turned him into the careless arrogant man we met in the first book. Starting with that lets you see him as Jack, rather than Alston, and as a far more sympathetic man than in the previous books.<\/p>\n

The past had a heavy fist around his heart. What he was waiting for was for it to physically hurt. <\/p>\n

The year of limbo between the loss of Jack\u2019s magic and the loss of his twin had been like walking with a large, sharp pebble embedded between sock and shoe, and afterwards\u2014even worse.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s also, of course, the romance between Jack and Alan.<\/p>\n

Alan\u2019s fine-tuned nerves told him that there was no real threat in this conversation. They were tossing a grenade back and forth, each of them pretending that it was primed to explode, but it wasn\u2019t.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As with the previous books, the writing and language is delightful.<\/p>\n

He watched the invitation being weighed as Alan Ross weighed all gifts: as if suspecting them of being hollow and containing Greeks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And there were the bits that were a punch.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only so much fight in a person. If it never lets up, if they can never rest\u2014it gets squeezed out of them, forever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I will need to read this again, later. But I am very content with how the story went and ended.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Tordotcom<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Power Unbound (2023) Freya Marske (The Last Binding) Set in England in 1909 The final book in the Last Binding Trilogy centers on Alston, Lord Hawthorn who has been arrogant and supercilious throughout the series, but here becomes Jack, and Alan, Alanzo Rossi, who met Alston, Maud, and Violet on the ship from America […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,27,30,292,2,204,33,207,148,26,56],"tags":[50,563,689,213,544,690],"class_list":["post-22559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-alternate-history","category-british","category-ebook","category-fantasy","category-good","category-historical","category-mental-health-rep","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-edwardian-era","tag-freya-marske","tag-grief","tag-mm","tag-the-last-binding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5RR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26549,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26549","url_meta":{"origin":22559,"position":0},"title":"A Power Unbound","author":"Michelle","date":"April 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Power Unbound (2023) Freya Marske (The Last Binding #3) Set in England in 1909 Jack felt old and tired. Giving combat orders to young people while heavy with fatigue was like reaching for a guidekeeper: another habit he\u2019d fallen easily back into. He didn\u2019t like it any more than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Power Unbound","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/A-Power-Unbound-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24300,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24300","url_meta":{"origin":22559,"position":1},"title":"A Power Unbound","author":"Michelle","date":"March 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Power Unbound (2023) Freya Marske (The Last Binding Book 3) Set in England in 1909 Spinet House was a young thing, built by a master carpenter-thaumoluthier and his energetically creative wife. It was a fortress. It was a musical, magical puzzle box. It was a fucking headache. When Alan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Power Unbound","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/A-Power-Unbound-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24295,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24295","url_meta":{"origin":22559,"position":2},"title":"A Restless Truth","author":"Michelle","date":"March 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Restless Truth (2022) Freya Marske (The Last Binding, #2) Set in England and across the Atlantic Ocean in 1909 There was a parlour game: one stared at a tray of objects before it was taken away, adjusted, and placed back in front of one\u2019s eyes. Some things added. Some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Restless Truth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/A_Restless_Truth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26540,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26540","url_meta":{"origin":22559,"position":3},"title":"A Marvellous Light","author":"Michelle","date":"April 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Marvellous Light (2021) Freya Marske (The Last Binding #1) Set in England in 1908 \u201cYou\u2019ve been cursed, and you think this is a time to make jokes?\u201d Blyth shoved his sleeve down again. \u201cI\u2019ve been cursed, so I\u2019ll make all the jokes I please.\u201d A chauffeur was not needed.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Marvellous Light","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/A-Marvellous-Light.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26544,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26544","url_meta":{"origin":22559,"position":4},"title":"A Restless Truth","author":"Michelle","date":"April 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Restless Truth (2022) Freya Marske (The Last Binding #2) Set on the Atlantic Ocean ~1908 Grief\u2019s jaws were not blunt of tooth. They snapped shut like a poacher\u2019s trap. \u201cClarence!\u201d cried Violet, edging sideways on her chair to better display herself to the open doorway. \u201cI\u2019m not decent!\u201d Her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Restless Truth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/A_Restless_Truth-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24288,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24288","url_meta":{"origin":22559,"position":5},"title":"A Marvellous Light","author":"Michelle","date":"February 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Marvellous Light (2021) Freya Marske (The Last Binding, #1) Set in London in 1908 They left Miss Morrissey in a halfway tidied office. At a certain point in the re-filing process, she\u2019d given up all pretence that she wasn\u2019t seizing the opportunity to impose order on what seemed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Marvellous Light","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/A-Marvellous-Light.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}