The House of Binding Thorns

Aliette de Bodard

2017 • 370 pages

Ratings2

Average rating3.5

The multi-award-winning author of The House of Shattered Wings continues her Dominion of the Fallen saga as Paris endures the aftermath of a devastating arcane war.... As the city rebuilds from the onslaught of sorcery that nearly destroyed it, the great Houses of Paris, ruled by Fallen angels, still contest one another for control over the capital. House Silverspires was once the most powerful, but just as it sought to rise again, an ancient evil brought it low. Phillippe, an immortal who escaped the carnage, has a singular goal—to resurrect someone he lost. But the cost of such magic might be more than he can bear. In House Hawthorn, Madeleine the alchemist has had her addiction to angel essence savagely broken. Struggling to live on, she is forced on a perilous diplomatic mission to the underwater dragon kingdom—and finds herself in the midst of intrigues that have already caused one previous emissary to mysteriously disappear.... As the Houses seek a peace more devastating than war, those caught between new fears and old hatreds must find strength—or fall prey to a magic that seeks to bind all to its will.

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Series

3 primary books6 released books

#2 in Dominion of the Fallen

Dominion of the Fallen is a 6-book series with 3 released primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Aliette de Bodard.

#0.5

In Morningstar's Shadow: Dominion of the Fallen Stories

#0.6

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

Kristen

The House of Shattered Wings is a beautifully written book set in a fascinating world, but I was on the fence about reading the standalone sequel since it was also bogged down by so much narrative introspection that didn't add much to the story or characterization. However, I decided to continue after discovering The House of Binding Thorns had more Asmodeus–and I'm so glad I did because it's a far superior novel with more Asmodeus and more of the dragon kingdom!

Like its predecessor, the characters aren't quite as “alive” or in possession of distinct personalities/narrations as I would have liked, but I thought they were more compelling than in the previous novel. It's gorgeously written and atmospheric, and it's a standout novel with some unique qualities that I enjoyed very much.

Full Review on My Website

June 14, 2017

Dan

I was not quite won over by the first book in this series. Sometimes, it was a struggle, but there was enough there to make me want to read the next volume. And here it is. Sadly, I have much the same reaction, and I could almost copy my previous review over. Once again, there are a lot of machinations and intrigues that our characters are only partly privy to, if that, meaning that the first half of the book ends up as a load of disconnected scenes where nothing much seems to happen. We spend a lot more time in the dragon kingdom under the Seine this time, which is a good thing, as it is evocatively described and a genuinely unsettling location, fishscales and all. This stands in contrast to the Paris of the books, which should be a real winner - one of the most beautiful cities in the world ruined by magical war, peopled by enigmatic Fallen angels? I'm in. But somehow, this just doesn't come across on the page. It should be the defining feature of the books, a landscape that becomes a character like Gormenghast, but it is annoyingly vague throughout. This and its predecessor are decent books, but they could have been great, and they fall short of that. A frustrating read, but not a futile one.

April 6, 2017