Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Paperback. 496 pages.
Winter has come early to Korslakov, City of Spires, and Lukan Gardova has arrived with it. Most visitors to this famous city of artifice seek technological marvels, or alchemical ingenuity. Lukan only desires the unknown legacy his father has left for him, in the vaults of the Blackfire Bank.
But when Lukan's key to the vault is stolen by a mysterious thief known as the Rook, he and his friends race to win it back―and find themselves trapped in a web of murder and deceit. In desperation, Lukan requests the help of Lady Marni Volkova, scion of Korslakov's most powerful family.
Yet Lady Marni has secrets of her own. Worse, she has plans for Lukan and his friends. Plans that involve a journey into Korslakov's dark past, in search of a long-lost alchemical formula that could lead to the city's greatest discovery . . . or its destruction.
"A fast-paced carnival of setbacks and skullduggery that reminds me of... me! Charming from the first twist to the last."―Scott Lynch on The Silverblood Promise"
**If you haven't read The Silverblood Promise, book one in The Last Legacy series, you can read my review for it here.**
The Blackfire Blade has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, and I was so excited to finally get the chance to dive back into this world and its characters that felt both familiar and brought something new. This sequel picks up with Lukan and the crew heading towards Korslakov with a singular goal in mind--but, naturally, this does not go as planned. Our trio is instead thrown into a slew of new impediments that end up growing into seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but Lukan, Flea, and Ashra are never ones to give up. I’ll be keeping this review spoiler-free so I’ll be avoiding too many direct details in order to make sure everything remains a surprise.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was getting to explore a brand new setting in this world: Korslakov. I always enjoy being dropped into a new location in any epic fantasy, and the atmosphere was excellently crafted. Logan's description of this region was incredibly vivid from the moment we first set eyes on it at the same time Lukan and everyone else did from their ship. It’s described as being cold, dark, and is laden with a heavy, foreboding tone that had me instantly intrigued (I mean, of course that intrigues me, right?). I loved how it almost acted as a foil to Saphrona and I appreciated just how stark the contrast was between the two, especially with how both Lukan and Ashra reacted to this change of scenery. However, I will say that certain aspects of the location didn’t actually end up feeling quite as ominous as some of our character’s earlier complaints and observation suggested, but the mood was absolutely still there and provided a delightfully grim backdrop for everything our characters go through while in Korslakov--which is, admittedly, pretty hellish.
I really enjoyed diving back into Lukan’s dynamic with Ashra and Flea. Flea is still Flea and getting into trouble at every turn, and even though it’s occasionally mildly infuriating, I don’t think I’d want to see her lose her spark. Ashra remains relatively guarded and not quick to trust, and her and Lukan continue to clash, but it’s the type of clash that shows just how much they grown to have a sort of grudging respect for each other, even if Ashra still can’t stand Lukan half the time. The banter among the three of them was perfect and added just the right amount of humor and levity to situations to balance out so much of the tension and frustration that was occurring in the plot.
One thing that I really appreciate about this series so far is how the characters are allowed to make mistakes. And I know plenty of characters make mistakes in plenty of books, but these characters make some truly not great mistakes, and as a result we get to see some really realistic growth. There aren’t any huge personality overhauls or large amounts of growth that feel unrealistic and unlike their character, but rather gradual development in ways that feel true to the characters themselves.
There’s also a lot of emotional heaviness in this book as well, from Lukan still grappling with his life state and father’s assassination to Flea and Ashra’s own journeys, as well as some things we discover in this installment. We have some genuinely low lows, and seeing the characters struggle through them really only strengthened their relationships and solidified them as authentic, relatable, and compelling characters you can’t help but root for. Even Lukan who is still learning the value of responsibility--albeit a bit painfully slow at times--feels slightly more grounded to where he still absolutely messes up and makes bad jokes, but seems to realize more of the impact of his actions. He also starts to gain more and more motivation relating to the loss of his father and his own role in finding out what happened and it was really nice to see that maturity as well.
One of the new characters we meet in this book is Razin, and he was easily one of the standout additions for me. I tend to love these types of characters who are bold, opinionated, always ready to tell a tale from their history, and appear a bit egotistical, but at the end of the day are actually pretty solid people who are brave, loyal, and overall stand for what’s right. I enjoyed almost every scene that Razin was in and appreciated that he’s the type that talks a bit big, but always shows up when it counts, and I loved the energy he brought to the group. And, of course, I especially loved his dog, Ivan!
The magic system continues to be one of the more interesting aspects of this world, as well. It’s not the type of system where every person has some sort of latent magical power within them that they can wield, but it feels more generally object- and ability-based, to where it’s tied into things like artifacts and the world’s mythology rather than basic spells and the like. It’s not always fully consistent in every situation, and I like that aspect because it keeps me guessing and really allows for more creative solutions and exploration from Logan as we get into more of this world and the magic within it. The more I learned as a reader, the more I realized just how much we as readers don’t know about this world, the Phaeron, its gods, and the deeper workings of the power in this world. There is still so much to come in the next book and I cannot wait to find out where Logan is taking us next on this adventure.
The Blackfire Blade will absolutely keep you on your toes. Everything and everyone in this world has some sort of political motivation and there are secrets, manipulations, ulterior motives, lies, etc. around every corner. It really leaves you as a reader side-eyeing every character because you can’t be sure exactly who you can trust. It’s a fairly intense reading experience because there are just so many twists and reveals and shifting loyalties that leave you feeling like you really are just along for the ride wherever Logan decides to take you.
I’ve mentioned a number of times on this blog that action scenes and I don’t really get along, and I sometimes struggle to follow them because I don’t process actions super well and, well, they tend to bore me sometimes (I’m sorry!). I’m very pleased to report that that was not the case in The Blackfire Blade! I was genuinely hooked through most of the more action-y scenes and was pretty invested in what was happening. I was especially hooked with the final big action/high intensity scene, and I genuinely felt like I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the page.
The pacing of this book is interesting to me because it’s technically quite fast, with plenty of action, countless reveals, cliffhangers, and a lot of movement, but the actual plot progression is actually slow. We start the book with one specific mission and goal in mind, but we really don’t get to that until near the end. In some ways, that frustrated me quite a lot and I wanted to sigh a few times at things that kept popping up to delay reaching that goal, but I will say that Logan handles this really well and somehow any time I felt annoyed, I would quickly forget that feeling and become intrigued by what was happening in the story. It reminded me a bit of a video game where you have your main quest, but you keep ending up embarking on side quests that sidetrack you (just to make it clear: this book is not litRPG, I’m just comparing here!).
I think what worked well about everything that happened in this book and all the derailments is that none of it felt like pointless filler. Even the moments that felt like side quests had a distinct purpose and actually ended up contributing to the plot in some meaningful and fascinating ways, and that’s what made this structure work for me. A few things felt like a bit of a stretch at times, but overall everything felt tied into the larger story in ways that really mattered.
I definitely can’t wait to see more of this world and really hope that the next book has even more exploration of the world-building and magic system and that we are better able to understand some of the puzzle pieces still left to solve.
Overall, The Blackfire Blade is an exceedingly excellent epic fantasy sequel and exactly the way I wanted it to be: twisty, fast-paced, great character growth and development, and kept me on the edge of my seat. Even parts that frustrated me a bit ended up feeling more intentional than bad writing or planning. I especially appreciated that the ending wrapped up enough to where I felt satisfied with everything we’d learned and accomplished in this book, but also left us with enough of a cliffhanger that I am already chomping at the bit for the next book. James Logan has definitely proved that he is an excellent writer and knows how to handle an epic fantasy like this, and I can’t wait to see what’s next (as long as no one [else] dies!)!
