Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor 3) Kindle Edition

I wanted to like this so much and it is still worth finishing, just underwhelming. With Glass disappearing off screen and Zole just being there. And an emperor who still is off screen and never meets Nona the most important figure in the world. There is little that happens that seems to matter in the present.With his two previous series Mark has earned a lot of leeway AND there some neat/creative ideas, but it just kinda dribbles to the finish in a pedestrian manner. a whole series about Nona growing up and she only is full status for about 30 pages.

A disappointing conclusion. I really enjoyed the firm no-nonsense world that the author had set up in previous books. The magic system was concrete, the protagonists were not OP, and the plot didn't feel contrived.Unfortunately, all three of those fall by the wayside in favor of shock-and-awe. It feels like the final season of Game of Thrones to be honest.Holy Sister tries to wrap up the story, unfortunately there is too much to wrap up and pages early on are wasted on even more training at the convent. The end result is that the magic system and its rules were broken, there were deus-ex machina everywhere, everyone but Nona becomes completely incompetent. On the plus side, we finally get to see a conclusion to the 'prologue fight' in the previous books. Unfortunately, it was obviously changed to fit the story- even though the original books have differences. These differences are both striking and deal breaking imo.Another large issue is the time gap. This book opens 3 years after the previous. Nona is in a romantic/sexual relationship, and important characters have died. It also means that Nona/Zole's escapes have to be handled by flashbacks.... which mess up the stories flow.

It is a rare thrill to find an author who can keep your brain challenged, your feels fulfilled and your pulse pounding book after book after book. You know, the ones that make you hold your breath. Or ignore your family. Or get completely lost in another world because the book is so damn good. I am happy to report that I am able to pick up each and every one of Mark Lawrence’s books with the same expectation each time: This one will also be epic. The man and his characters and his stories have never let me down.Written entirely from Nona’s POV this time, the story is broken into two different timelines, three years ago and present day. But first, the prologue takes a few pages to remind us just how freaking kickass Nona is by having her kick some ass in a fighting ring. Lawrence always has the most memorable beginnings.Holy Sister picks up exactly where Grey Sister ended with the Abbess, Sisters and novices of Sweet Mercy making their escape from the palace. Always keeping her cards close to her habit as she plays the long game, Abbess Glass sends Nona and Zole to the ice with the shipheart.The story then jumps to present day with Nona preparing to take her final tests to become a Sister. I can’t say much about the present day narrative as it reflects what happened the last three years and some events are incredible twists. Fabulous twists. There are others that just plain broke my heart.The book weaves it way back and forth, past to present, until the day it connects. Then, there is the most epic battle. It’s bloody. Pulse pounding. Heartbreaking. The Path Walk from some of these women is stunning. And deadly. The writing is captivating. It’s page after page of Nona fighting what can only be described as a multi-layered, perhaps even multidimensional, battle as she walks the Path the Abbess knew she could. It was exciting and thrilling and ultimately exhausting. This is where we are once again reminded:“It’s important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size.”This is a genius piece of work. It is complex but engaging with well-written characters that you care about, or hate, or hate to care about. It has a wicked sense of humor (hey, it made me laugh during a battle scene). And all the threads, all the pieces, all the clues—everything was in its place by the last page.This book perfectly completes the story of Nona, the dirty little cage girl, who grow to become a fighter, a loyal friend, a tactician, and a Sister. Can NOT wait for Lawrence's next trilogy!

I love this author. Every series feels unique with its story and characters. I will say though this is the third series and I'm getting a little tired of this trope where the love interest turns into some m night shyamalan twist. Everyone at this point who has read this man's previous works should see what's coming a mile away. If he presents a love interest in the first book its guaranteed to not be the one the character will end up with. I wouldnt find it so annoying but it's happened for three series and it's always the same. Everything else changes but this. Please switch it up or just forget the love interest. That's my input. Still love the series.Month & a half later: I realized after thinking about this book that something else was bothering me as well which was the time jumps. In Broken Empire I didn't really care because the characters outlook on life didn't really change. Nothing major had happened to the character to change who they were since the last book so it was still the same person I knew from previous books. In this series I felt like Mark took advantage of this tool and became lazy. In the second book she has a demon in her body and changes her outlook after the events at the end of the first book. Would have been nice to read but Mark just skips ahead in time and now I have to figure out this new character. In the third book I felt more annoyed because now its much later and some really major events have happened that have changed this character further. Events that I would have loved to read about but for whatever reason Mark dosnt want to write about so now I have no emotional connection to this love interest which with what happened at the end of this book maybe that was on purpose? But regardless of that once again she is very different not only in mind set but power as well. Found it so annoying. I want to read about how my character grows and I want to follow them on the journey. I don't want to read the beginning of the book and find out a bunch of stuff happened when I wasnt around. How dos that give me more of a connection to the character?

I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy (much as I enjoyed the author’s earlier series) but they were four star reads for me, somehow nearly but not quite delivering on the promise of their premise. I was therefore delighted that this final instalment does a great job of pulling together all the different threads of the story and reaching a satisfying conclusion in terms of both the big picture politics and the characters’ interpersonal relationships.Rather like in the author’s two Broken Empire trilogies, but unlike in the earlier books of this series, the book makes use of dual timelines. One picks up exactly where Book Two ended, with Nona and various other Sweet Mercy convent members and others fleeing the aftermath of the fight at Sherzal’s palace. The focus here is on Nona and Zola’s trek across and through the ice, half creating a diversion to allow the others to escape, half trying to get their stolen shipheart to safety. The second starts three years later, with Nona and her contemporaries preparing to become fully fledged nuns, and the Empire in the grip of a devastating war. The two strands had quite different vibes and complemented each other well. In the first, I liked that we got to know the rather mysterious Zola better as a person and got to understand more about the ice tribes, the black ice, and the demons that can possess people. In the second, I liked the ultra-high stakes, the scheming, and the way the great mysteries of the series are gradually resolved. I was also relieved that the “mean girls” and cruel teacher elements that sometimes felt a bit overdone in earlier instalments were toned down. There was still a bit of that, but on the whole, the convent was able to put pettiness aside in the face of an existential threat, which was refreshing. I think it also helped that Nona was a bit older and more experienced here than in earlier instalments, which made her prowess and the things she was entrusted with a bit more believable and the threats she faced a little less horrifying.It’s worth noting that one of my absolute favourite characters dies “offscreen” somewhere in the three year gap between the two timelines, which at first, I was horribly disappointed by. But it gradually became satisfyingly clear that they were still driving the plot from beyond the grave.Inbetween the general entertaining steady movement of the plot, there were a couple of standout punch the air moments: Nona deciding which order to join, Sister Pan showing how she got her reputation as one of the greatest quantals of all time, a couple of characters’ dramatic demises. And there was also the quieter satisfaction of seeing how plots and schemes came to unexpected fruition.I often find that final instalments end up being the weakest books in a series or that at the very least, the ultimate ending disappoints. But on balance, I thought this was probably the best book of the trilogy and wrapped everything up nicely. Overall, compared to Mark Lawrence’s other books, I’d rate this series somewhere between Prince of Thorns and the Red Queen’s War.I received an ARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review (though I had already pre-ordered it at Amazon, so for the record, was also willing to pay good money for it!)

I really enjoyed the first two books in the series. Both Red Sister and Grey sister had a great cast of characters, an interesting world and plenty of exciting moments that seemed to be leading to much more but the final book of the series Holy Sister never reaches the highs of the previous novels and many story threads finished a little flat for me by the end.Previously important characters are simply written out in between books with little fanfare, previously eluded to relationships never come to fruition or ever receive the impact they should and the Cage/Thorn monastery scene from the first book when finally reached was a little underwhelming in the end. That's not to say it's bad, I still enjoyed many aspects of the book, it's well written and has some pretty good fight scenes and set pieces and Nona is still a great and fierce heroine but it all felt a bit rushed in the end.Good, worth reading to conclude the series but didn't reach my expectations in the end.+ Well written.+ Some great action and set piece moments.+ Nona is still a tough great character.- Many story threads/relationships resolve disappointingly.- Story kind of feels rushed and yet feels like there was a mini book in between I missed.

I do not spend £11 on a kindle book EVER. But I did here. Why: 'Red sister'(1) and 'Grey Sister'(2), are both GREAT books. The intro price on 'Red sister' leveled out the price too. But ultimately it's the quality, intelligence, depth, characters, challenge, progression and rich detail, that both grip you and make it good value. This quality of writing is rare. The deep thought given to the plot build up are very impressive.There are 2 parallel narrative strands, alternating chapters: The continuation from Grey Sister and 3 years later. The simpler 'Grey sister' narrative 'device' of mysterious battle scenes from an unexplained defense of the convent, becomes clear (another 'wow' story angle). The most extreme challenges and traps are made understandable and credible, solved by sensible strategies not just by 'Deus ex Machina' artifice. Abbess Glass's long game is made clear in digestible snippets, at satisfying doses but not easily or quickly. We are kept gripped and engaged by a well paced weaving of so many people and plots.... It is exhausting to read this series, the adrenaline is never far from another jolt. And the characters are genuinely deeply interesting and each has their own voice and manner.Strongly recommended

I really enjoyed this conclusion to Nona's story. The story is told as two timelines - one continuing from the end of Grey Sister, which doesn't do much more than introduce a few more characters and some of the Missing's technology, and one "now" a year or two (?) later with the war that was building with the other tribes in the Corridor in full swing. There's a bit of gap between the two timelines and important events from it are referred to but apart from the Bound novella (worth reading as it expands on Nona's and Ara's relationship which is significant in Holy Sister), remains untold. The war is mostly a backdrop to the ongoing to the feud with Sherzal and her allies, but it does all dovetail together nicely...My only gripe is that during the battle towards the end, Nona's flaw blades suddenly become massively overpowered, it doesn't matter much, but it made me go "hmmm". There are also a few loose ends (Joeli's fate ...) but nothing major.Also Taproot!?! A story there maybe?! ;-)

I've enjoyed all three books in this trilogy with each, in turn, being better than its predecessor. But this ending of the trilogy is just stunningly brilliant!In Nona Grey, Mark Lawrence has found a hero figure that everyone' regardless of age or gender, will love. He's then surrounded her with friends, teachers and enemies (and some of those switch among those labels!) that each have their own depth and character. As a reader, I really cared about what happened to these people.Unlike the first two books, this one doesn't just pick up at the end of Book2 and then relay the tale in chronological order. Instead, the whole book into chapters that roughly alternate between 'the escape following the events at the end of Book 2' and 'now'. The genius of writing this way only becomes apparent in the latter quarter of the book.The 'now' chapters quickly become an extended battle scene in which all of the Sisters and Novices of the Convent turn out to use their skills to defend their city and their empire. Not all survive. Nona (by now Sister Cage) of course plays a pivotal and significant role and creates her own battle to gain control of the Ark and the 'moon'.I don't know if Mark Lawrence sketched out this master plan right at the beginning of writing these books or whether he fashioned it as he went along but, somehow, apparently insignificant threads from the first two books all come together at the very end. And with some big surprises! One of those surprises, and a very satisfying ending, is the answer to the question posed throughout the trilogy of "Who really is 'The Chosen One'?".I salute Mark Lawrence for producing such a masterful trilogy and then bringing it all together in such a satisfying manner. Brilliant stuff!