#68 Holy Sister

Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Well here it is! The much anticipated third and final book in the 'Book of the Ancestor' trilogy.

This trilogy is fantastically written and so intricate, there are so many details that at first seem irrelevant to the plot but then become relevant 2 books later. Mark Lawrence's world building is second only to Sanderson, everything he writes is so deliberate and masterfully done. He uses a great mix of character driven writing along with dynamic world building- whats not to love?

Holy Sister continues on from Grey Sister, it is told in two timelines, one in the present and one 3 years previous. Present day follows Nona and her friends as they strive to become full sisters in their chosen specialisation: Red, Grey or Holy sister. In the past timeline the story follows where Grey Sister left off, which i appreciated as i had so many unanswered questions. The ending of Grey Sister was rushed and dare i say ever so slightly sloppy. The nuns had just escaped the Emperors sister, Sherzal and her infamous Noi-Guin assassins and were trying to flee back to the safety of the convent whilst being chased, my biggest question was 'did everyone make it?' 'did anyone die?', the abruptness annoyed me as these questions plagued my mind until i was able to pick the conclusion up.

This trilogy has been an epic journey chronicling Nona's life from a peasant girl to becoming a novice at Sweet Mercy Convent. This instalment sees Nona face the final challenges she must overcome if she is to become a full sister to pave the way for her and her friends pick a speciality and finally graduate.

This was a highly thrilling conclusion. We have spent two books seeing Nona come into her own and hone her many many skills. Nona has made friends and enemies at Sweet Mercy and they honestly read as so real, i was so fond of them all (except Jolie, she is the worst) I love how the central focus of this series is female friendship, it was so refreshing to read. One of the most interesting aspects was delving into the paths laid out by Abbess Glass for Nona, it was extremley confusing at first but really came together the longer the story went on, a tribute to Lawrences writing really.

My only real criticism would be Jolie. The absolute witch that is Jolie deserved death in the end and it annoyed me that Nona chose mercy, that is possibly the only thing i would change. I know this was written as part of Nona's character development as a more mature and merciful sister but STILL she could have at least had her whipped or something!

In the end this is a highly entertaining and suspenseful read. I will 100% be reading Mark Lawrences back list books and anything new he brings out too. I am ashamed that it took me this long to discover his wonderful writing.