It's Book Review Wednesday, and today I have a book I'm very excited about. I read the first two books in this series—Book 1: Sons of Brabant and Book 2: Hidden Elements—so I was very happy to finally close off the trilogy. And what a way to go!

The Stone Bridge

The Rapture continues to wreak havoc across Europe in its quest to acquire the elemental Seals, the only thing preventing the Devil’s Bible from purging the world in fire. Brought to Prague by the Fianna, the Seals’ only protection lies in the secrecy that shrouds them. Reinald, leader of the Rapture, enlists the world’s greatest minds to free the Devil’s Bible from the depths of Prague Castle, where it has languished under lock and key for centuries. Meanwhile, the plans of the Four Horsemen unfold, wreaking havoc and misery across the entire continent. Not content with forcing his siblings from their ancestral home, Reinald sends a vast army to harry and persecute them, forcing them to flee ever eastwards. Taking shelter with their friends, Willem, Leo and Isabella commit to one last act of bravery, making a final stand to defend the city of Prague. As each nation commits its final resources into the conflict, all roads lead to the Stone Bridge that divides Prague, where the Sons of Brabant and their Fianna allies will face the ultimate test of their strength.

My Review: 4 Stars

I've been waiting for the end of the series for long enough, so was VERY glad to get the final book to find out what happens to Willem, Leo, and Isabella. I thought the story with the "mundane" foes—Reinald and the Rapture—was excellent. The battle scenes were well-written, the narrative smooth and intriguing, and the characters gripping. Each character had something unique to keep me interested. Heck, even the villain had something that made him relatable. A well-done book overall! The part about the Devil's Bible and the seals was a bit "meh". While the seals were the most important part of Book 2, they lost my interest beneath the physical confrontation between Reinald and his minions and the main characters. In fact, I could have done without that entire part of the story and still LOVED reading about the war and politics of the timeframe in the book. All in all, not as good as Book 1, but a fitting end to the trilogy!

About the Author:

Michael Bolan: nomadic Irish storyteller It took Michael Bolan over two decades of running in the corporate ratrace to realise that all he actually did was tell stories. There was no Damascene revelation for Bolan which caused him to pen his first work of fiction, "The Sons of Brabant". An avid reader, he simply felt that he could do as good a job as many of the authors he read and decided to put his money where his mouth was. Living and working in many countries left him with smatterings of a dozen languages and their stories, and his love for history focused his ideas on the Thirty Years War, the most destructive conflict that the continent has ever seen. Now living in Prague (again), Michael brings alive the twisted alleys of the 17th century and recreates the brooding darkness of a fractured Europe, where no-one was entirely sure who was fighting whom. Michael writes while liberally soused in gin, a testament to Franz de le Boë, who was mixing oil of juniper with neat spirit while the thirty Years War raged around him. Find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Bridge-Book-Devils-Bible-ebook/dp/B01MST4KEB/ Read his thoughts on his website: http://www.michaelbolan.org Tweet at him: https://twitter.com/michaelbolan225 Connect with him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelbolan225