A Bittersweet End: Empire of Reckoning and Ruin Review
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Can love conquer all when even the gods stand in its way? Empire of Reckoning and Ruin, by author Nina Frost brings the Dragons of Tirene series to a close. The entire series is a blend of beauty, chaos, and divine rebellion. This installment picks up after weeks of turmoil, with Lark and Prince Knox Sterling Barda preparing for a royal wedding that should mark peace within the kingdom. Yes happiness in Tirene is fragile. Straited. Strange omens, cursed gifts, and restless gods hint that the finale of this fantasy series won’t come quietly.
As someone who’s been reading the Dragons of Tirene series since the beginning (thank you to author Nina Frost for putting me on), I opened this final book hoping for closure—a deep, emotional reckoning worthy of its predecessors (read my full review of book one). Instead, I found myself caught between admiration and frustration (like deeply entrenched). While Nina still builds moments of wonder—lush magic, elemental power and aching love—Empire of Reckoning and Ruin feels like a story fighting to justify its own existence.
Title: Empire of Reckoning and Ruin
Author: Nina Frost
Publisher: Independently Published
Format: eARC
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Release Date: October 9, 2025
Pages: 448
Star Rating: 3 stars
Spice Rating: 1 chili peppers
Where It Faltered
The series finale stumbles not because it’s poorly written, but because it feels unnecessary. Book four ended on a note of quiet perfection. Like the moment your parents are admiring the Christmas tree before you and your siblings come crashing down to tear it to shreds. It was the kind of ending that closes the circle and let readers breathe. Then Empire of Reckoning and Ruin appears. I knew since reading book one that this series was slated for five books. Yet, I wasn’t prepared for it to feel like the opening of a new storyline that reads more like the beginning of another romantic fantasy than the end of one.
The issue isn’t ambition; it’s cohesion. Author Nina Frost introduces an entirely new divine threat without any foreshadowing. The gods’ interference feels sudden, detached from the emotional rhythm that carried us through earlier books. And while yes, it is true the gods have been interfering since book one this feels different. As if they are the main antagonist in a way that they weren’t before. I kept waiting for the text to acknowledge what Lark’s victories might mean to the heavens—a few POVs from the gods in book four could have created tension, a quiet hum of warning beneath the triumph. Instead, we’re dropped into celestial conflict with little grounding.
It makes Empire of Reckoning and Ruin feel like a fantasy romance book grafted onto the end of another book series. If you removed Lark and Sterling (or even made them side characters), this could easily be the start of a new saga. And while that’s not inherently bad (readers who love the romantasy genre might still be intrigued) it weakens the impact of what came before.
The World, the Magic, and the Missed Potential
One of the biggest strengths of Frost’s fantasy romance books has always been her worldbuilding. A mix of elemental magic, dragons, and the eternal pull between mortal love and its divine consequences. But in this finale, the repetition becomes distracting. Explanations of the world’s rules (like magic merging), and divine lore return again and again throughout the series, as if Frost doesn’t trust the readers to remember.
For anyone who’s read the series in full it feels redundant. Even with time gaps between releases, most fans remember the emotional beats and plot threads that carried them through. And when enough time does pass, readers usually revisit the previous book (sometimes the entire series) before diving back in. It steals time that could’ve been spent deepening character arcs or exploring the gods’ motives.
Formatting issues also broke the flow (though I don’t put too much weight on it I read an ARC). Misplaced POV headers, scene transitions labeled incorrectly, and page breaks that left me unsure whose eyes I was reading through. They’re small errors in the grand scheme of things, but in a final book, they pull you out of the story just when you want to be immersed.
And yet, beneath those flaws, there’s still something magnetic. The world of Tirene continues to enchant. A place of fire and frost, of love that defies the realms, and of gods who act as mirrors to human greed and longing. The potential for greatness hums beneath the surface; it just never fully ignites.
Character Reflections
This time, Lark, lost me. Her journey from strength to selfishness feels dissonant, especially in a fantasy novel that has always valued sacrifice and love over power. Watching her retreat inward, refusing to act while her people suffer under divine wrath, was frustrating in a way that felt intentional yet deeply unrewarding.
I understood her fear; to love someone who may live forever while you fade. But her people are DYING. I spend the better half of the book yelling at the Kindle “GIRL GET A GRIP“. Though that ache is timeless, one that the romance genre often explores. But where the heroines often grows through pain, Lark seems to shrink beneath it. She becomes reactive, jealous, almost petulant. Not the warrior queen we rooted from across four fantasy romance adventures.
Her love story with Sterling remains tender but strained, weighed down by the same themes that once uplifted it: devotion, loss, and time. It’s still a fantasy romance book I would read, but one that no longer glows from within.
The Gods, the Depth, and the Reckoning
If the rest of Empire of Reckoning and Ruin feels uneven, the gods redeem it. Their POVs are the most powerful addition to the entire series. Chapter 26 alone transforms the book. Offering scale, symbolism and insight that expands the world from mortal to the cosmic. It’s as if the entire saga had been skimming the surface of a puddle and suddenly we plunge into the depths of a lake. Still water, yes, but the vastness encompasses the beauty.
The divine chapters explore the fragility of creation, the tension between freedom and fate, and the jealousy of beings who once shaped life itself. It’s these moments that elevate Empire from forgettable to fascinating. Had Frost woven this energy throughout the previous books, the series finale could have reach the same epic resonance as others books released this year.
Instead, it feels like two stories battling for dominance. One celestial and compelling, and the other mortal and meandering.
The Delicate Balance of the Finale
Empire of Reckoning and Ruin is an enigma. It’s a finale that reads like a beginning, a book that feels both necessary and misplaced. The fantasy and romance elements remain. Dragons, gods, and love stretched across lifetimes, but the emotional throughline wavers.
Objectively, it isn’t a bad book. The writing still has rhythm, the world remains rich, and Frost’s imagination continues to burn bright. But for a series that promised grandeur (at least in the recesses of my mind), this finale lands softer than expected. It’s an Empire built on beauty, but its foundation cracks beneath the weight of what could have been.
Read This If You Love
- Fantasy romance books where love defies the gods
- Romantic fantasy series finales with divine stakes
- Dragons, magic, elemental powers, and slow-burn devotion
- Fantasy romance similar to Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing)
- Complex heroines navigating power, immortality, and love
- Romantasy that questions destiny and choice
Thank you so much to author Nina Frost to putting me on her ARC team. I had such a good time with this series. Please support Nina and start the Dragons of Tirene series! You can purchase the entire series on Amazon (also available on KU) or your indie bookstore.
Have you read any of Nina Frost’s books or if this finale is on your TBR list. And while you’re here, share your favorite fantasy romance recommendations. I’m building my next reading list, and your picks might just be my next obsession.
