Furysong - Rosaria Munda (Book Review)
4.5 stars on StoryGraph
The thrilling conclusion of the Aurelian Cycle, Furysong sees Callipolis invaded by the New Pythian dragonlords, Lee’s revolutionary moment co-opted by his cousin Ixion, Griff facing execution for being caught spying for Annie, and Annie unaware of what’s happening to her home. A revolution is coming for New Pythos and a resistance is forming Callipolis as old and new regimes are challenged.
Once again, the political aspect of this series is at the forefront of my favourite parts. There’s resistances within takeovers, political prisoners, and many people questioning what the future may become. I loved the parallels between Callipolis and New Pythian’s revolutions but also were they differ. One is a revolution of a country’s political system while the other is overthrowing colonialism and colonial systems. I also loved the small peak into the politics of the wider world - there had previous mentions of other states and political bodies, but a part from the appearance of a princess, there was nothing seen of them.
I also liked how any characters were thinking of the future - what future do they want to be a part of? what do they see for themselves for their personal future? Some had smaller thoughts for their future - like returning to a childhood home - but some were bigger; do the events that I’ve been through mean that my earlier dreams of the future no longer fit the person I’ve become. In particular for Annie and Lee who we’ve followed since Firebourne we see how futures can change, be interlinked, and diverge from each other.
The Aurelian Cycle is a great trilogy. I love the ambiguity of who Annie and Lee are to each other and how that changes through different events. I cannot overstate how much I enjoy the political aspects of the trilogy and how that makes the world a whole lot more fleshed out for me personally.
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