Book Review: 'Book Of The Ancestor: Book 3 - Holy Sister' by Mark Lawrence

Cover art by Bastien Lecouffe Deharme

The final book in Mark Lawrence's excellent 'Book Of The Ancestor' trilogy, 'Holy Sister', is a satisfying end to what has become one of my favourite series.

The book is split into two narrative threads; one immediately after the events of book 2 with Nona and Zole on the run, and another in the present set three years later with Nona and her friends in Holy Class with the backdrop of war looming on the horizon. Both are written from Nona's point of view, as we flit from one path before jumping back to the other. But it never once gets confusing, as you think it might be with the crisscrossing, but it's a rewarding read with the threads from both lines coming together for the payoff with a satisfying conclusion.

This is Nona's story. Not just because it's told through her, but because of her superb character development, we want to follow her wherever she goes. She makes you feel what she feels - the pain, the anxiety, the tragedy, the love, the vengeance, the ambition and the triumph - and we come out the other side oh so much stronger for it, as she completes her journey from little Nona, when we first see her in Red Sister, to the confident Sister Cage we see at the end. She's one of the best characters I've had the chance to get to read! 

The excellent character development doesn't just stop at Nona either, the rest of the supporting cast have also grown and expanded into more than who they were at the beginning. The relationships and interactions feel very much real world and full of genuine emotion, as well as complex and honest, that they feel so three dimensional and real! 

'Holy Sister' is a book about faith, hope and the love of friends. It's a tightly plotted, intense and complex story, that's also filled with emotion, thrills, plenty of action, and some of the best characterizations and world building, all written in such a lyrically literary way, that it confirms author Mark Lawrence an automatic on my reading lists! Recommended!

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