James Logan’s Last Legacy series continues with The Blackfire Blade, which picks up the story of Lukan Gardova and his companions: the master thief Ashra and street urchin Flea just about where we last saw them in The Silverblood Promise. Our heroes are still trying to access Lukan’s father’s safe deposit box in the Blackfire Bank, in the distant city of Korslakov. Pretty simple and straightforward, but Lukan’s vices, particularly his tendency to overdrink, soon cause him to have the key to dad’s box stolen.
Some doors should not be opened . . .
Winter has come early to Korslakov, City of Spires, and Lukan Gardova has arrived with it. Most visitors to this famous city of artifice seek technological marvels, or alchemical ingenuity. Lukan only desires the unknown legacy his father has left for him, in the vaults of the Blackfire Bank.
But when Lukan’s key to the vault is stolen by a mysterious thief known as the Rook, he and his friends find themselves trapped in a deadly web of murder and deceit. In desperation, Lukan seeks help from Lady Marni Volkova, scion of Korslakov’s most powerful family.
Yet Lady Marni has secrets of her own. Worse, she has plans for Lukan and his friends. Plans that involve a journey into Korslakov’s dark past, in search of a long-lost alchemical formula that could lead to the city’s greatest discovery . . . or its destruction.
Things go from bad to worse when, in the course of trying to retrieve this key, Lukan and Ashra are accused of murder and put to the gallows. Only a last-minute intervention from a former gaming adversary, allows Lukan and Ashra to avoid a final fate. This all happens in the early stages of the novel, so Long is playing rather, well, a long-game with this novel. Nothing can be easy for our hero as he and his friends keep finding themselves involved in side quest after side quest in this sword-and-sorcery caper.
It has been a little over a year since The Silverblood Promise published, which is about when I read it (and about another 80 or so books during that time). As such, I have to give credit to Logan for making that return to his characters and world a seamless thing for me. I was very much eased into the situation and that is in part because of the great character work in the first book, but the seemingly effortless way the story provides little reminders of that first book.
Lukan is a self-destructive character, his own worst enemy at times and alienates the people around him who support him. That can be a wearying character to follow for 400-plus pages. So it is a good thing that Logan adds enough depth to Lukan and a self-realization that grows as the side-quests and plots get twisty. Flea continues to tow the line between annoying youth and great character, wavering more often into enjoyable character territory. Ashra goes on her own at times, giving Logan the opportunity to focus on who she is just a little bit more and it is a welcome depth to a character that already had substance. These characters feel real, their interactions with each other feel genuine and while there is stubbornness and conflict, this triptych of characters values each other and takes to heart the advice they give each other. In other words, they grow and mature in smart ways. Their trust and relationship with each other deepens. Before they met each other in The Silverblood Promise they were loners with little familial attachments and they became allies. By the end of The Blackfire Blade they truly feel like they are a found family.
The plotting is so much fun, too. When I was a more frequent videogame player, I didn’t always go on side-quests, I just wanted to finish the game. I found them distracting and annoying. Point being, multiple side-quests in a novel could be seen as just an annoying diversion, but Logan does such a fine job of making the storylines that pull Lukan from his ultimate goal as critical to the story and characters, I loved the ride and welcomed the time with these characters and their adversaries.
Yet again, James Logan has been given an incredible cover by Jeff Brown. The image and color-work are just arresting.
The Blackfire Blade is a wonderful second novel, it shows the growth and maturity of James Logan as a writer and storyteller. I find that impressive because his first novel was so damned assured. I want to connect with these characters again, learn more about the dep fantastical roots of the world. In other words, Logan did everything a writer should do with a second series novel, and he accomplished it very, very well. This series is giving me everything I hope to get when I open the cover of a sword and sorcery/caper/adventure story and more.
Recommended
© 2025 Rob H. Bedford
Tor Books | Trade Paperback
November 2025 | 496 Pages
https://jamesloganauthor.com/ | Bluesky: @jamesloganauthor.bsky.social
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
Minor disclaimer: I’ve known (as much as people online can really know each other especially when one lives in the US and the other in the UK) with James for quite a few years know. We’ve both been involved in the online Fantasy and Science Fiction community for well over a decade (or two, in my case). In his role as editor for Orbit he’s sent me a book or two for review. Additionally, James was member of the SFFWorld forums in the past and we’ve both written genre reviews online for some of the same outlets. Our “friendship” does not color my opinion of his work. While I would like to see him succeed, especially as one of our own here from SFFWorld, his writing continues to exceed my fairly high expectations.
