The Lie That Binds Them

• Author: Matthew Ward
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: April 15, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Soulfire Saga #3

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Set in a world of ancient myth and dangerous magic, The Lie That Binds Them is the heart-pounding conclusion to Matthew Ward’s Soulfire Saga, where a thief dares to seek vengeance against an immortal king—and finds herself on the path to war.

The kingdom of Khalad is ruled by a new and brutal despot and its rebels scattered across its vast lands. With folk hero Vallant missing, Kat is now the leader of the rebellion.

When an assassination attempt rattles the kingdom, Kat turns to a powerful new ally for help. The cost of victory will be high, but time is running out to save Khalad.

I was really looking forward to reading the final book in the series, but it took me a lot longer to get to than I had planned. I loved the first book, and enjoyed the second, even if it wasn’t my favorite. So I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book. It took me a while to get through a reread of the previous two books, which didn’t help my timeline, but I was prepared to enjoy this one as well.

There were some things about this book that didn’t quite hit the mark for me, personally. While the story still kept me glued to the pages, I think part of my issue with this book was the format. Dense or complex fantasy tends to be difficult for me to fully follow along with certain audiobooks, and this one fit into that category. I read the first two books in print format, so that might be part of it.

I did love how fast-paced the story was. There was always something happening, and I didn’t really notice any pacing issues. But with a fast-paced story that is also a really complex one can be a bit of a struggle, because if I’m not fully paying attention the entire time, there are things that slip by. However, it never got boring and avoided both the issues of a slow-paced middle and an ending that feels rushed. 

The audiobook is narrated by Sara Novak, who did an outstanding job of it. She was able to master multiple accents and tones of voice believably, and made it easy to differentiate between each of the characters. I loved listening to her voice.

I was disappointed to see that the story focuses more on the other characters than Kat, since I’ve developed such a strong connection to her through the series. Some of the other POV characters aren’t as likable, or their behaviors make them less likable. Tanith falls into this category for me, since she wasn’t likable at all when we first meet her, and while she does change significantly over the course of the story, I still struggled to get invested in her story. So her redemption arc wasn’t my favorite part of the story, especially since I wasn’t sure she was trustworthy. There is also a new POV character introduced in the story, Mirzai, but I wasn’t able to fully get invested in him this late in the game. Additionally, Mirzai’s POV didn’t really feel necessary—I think the story could have been told well using the characters who were already established as providers of perspective.

Overall, this was an interesting read, but it was far from my favorite of the series. The truth behind Khalad was revealed quite late in the story, which I didn’t think gave readers enough time to fully process the meaning.  Ultimately, I would have preferred to see more of Kat and less of the newer characters, and it wasn’t as enjoyable for me, since some of the other characters didn’t fully resonate with me. Another factor that I had a really hard time with was keeping track of all the many plot threads, almost like I needed to outline the story like I had to in high school and college in order to completely be on top of things. The ending felt incredibly satisfying, although the tone of the books had shifted from grimdark towards epic dark fantasy. As mentioned before, I really enjoyed the ending and all the action throughout the story, and was left with a lasting impression of the powerful character growth over the course of the entire series.

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