The Last Lies of Ardor Benn

Whitesides sticks the landing in his conclusion to the Kingdom of Grit trilogy (following The Shattered Realm of Ardor Benn), which sprang from the unusual premise of a magic system fueled by dragon dung. Legendary ruse artist Ardor Benn has ostensibly turned over a new leaf now that Queen Abeth Agaul has pardoned his crimes on the condition that he go straight and apologize to those he wronged. But soon he’s up to his old tricks: infiltrating a religious community, the Islehood, and duping people into consulting him for spiritual guidance as part of a scheme to steal the Islehood’s collection of dragon egg fragments. That scheme is soon superseded by an even more daunting task at the request of Hedge Marsool, a notorious criminal, whose ability to see the future and apparently control Ard’s actions make Ard incapable of ignoring his demand that Ard kidnap a mature dragon. The quest takes numerous unexpected turns as it builds to a thoroughly satisfying climax. Whitesides excels at balancing detailed worldbuilding and page-turning plot, sprinkling in plenty of humor along the way. This is a worthy finale to the series, and Whitesides’s fans will be eager to see what he does next. (Dec.)