Inherit the Flame

by Megan O'Keefe

Book 3 of the The Scorched Continent series

War comes to Hond Steading. Detan returns home to find Thratia's army at the gates - then the empire arrives. Caught between two armies, dark magicians, and uneasy alliances, Detan schemes to survive. O'Keefe's explosive trilogy finale.

The explosive conclusion to a series that bridges steampunk sci-fi with the action of a heist thriller and the humor of a buddy comedy. Detan Honding is determined to survive this war, even when caught between not one but two besieging armies!

After Detan retrieves the renowned engineer Nouli from the clutches of the empire, he returns to his aunt's city to find it under siege by Thratia's army. With Nouli's help, they turn back the tide - until imperial forces show up, prepared to hammer Thratia's army against the anvil of the city's walls. Worse yet, the imperial advance is aided by an elite force of deviant magic users.

His aunt is forced to forge an uneasy alliance with Thratia to keep the city from falling back under imperial control - but Detan's wary. While Thratia and his aunt bring their forces to bear against the imperial threat, Detan puts his own plans into motion, scheming to ensure that when the final blow is dealt, Thratia and her army find themselves on the other side of the city's walls.

Set in Hond Steading - built into the side of a dormant volcano and the center of power for the continent - the finale brings all storylines to convergence. Detan's ancestral home becomes the battleground where past betrayals, dangerous secrets about sel-sensitivity, and years of scheming collide. The stakes have never been higher as Detan faces not just political enemies but the consequences of his own choices, with the fate of every citizen hanging in the balance.

Readers praised it as "a fine conclusion, wrapping up pretty much all of the threads introduced previously, and certainly giving a lot of character development." Morpheus Tales declared "Read the trilogy; it is very much worthy of your attention," while reviewers noted the satisfying convergence of sub-plots and the revealing of magical system details and character backstories in deeply satisfying ways.

Inherit the Flame delivers what fans crave: witty banter amidst warfare, clever schemes layered within larger conflicts, and characters making impossible choices between survival and honor. While Detan remains the charming, tormented rogue readers love, the finale tests whether his wit and schemes can outmaneuver two armies, dark magicians, and the woman who's haunted the entire trilogy - all while protecting the home he never wanted to rule.

Perfect for readers seeking satisfying trilogy conclusions that tie up threads, heist caper energy applied to warfare, buddy comedy humor balanced with genuine stakes, and finales where cleverness matters as much as swords.

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