Book Review: ‘The Dark Feather’ by Anna Stephens

The Dark Feather is the final instalment in Anna Stephens’ high fantasy trilogy: The Songs of the Drowned.

Set a month after the concluding events of The Jaguar Path, The Dark Feather focus entirely on the final battle for the continent of Ixachipan. But who will win – the Pechaqueh and their Empire of Songs or the rebels up made up of people from every conquered nation? The book is described as both epic and heartbreaking so, before I began reading, I knew to expect the unexpected and that no character would be safe.

Just like with the first two books, The Dark Feather is told from the point of view of multiple narrators.

On the Empire’s side we see Tayan, now corrupted by the song, wrestle with ambition and the person he once was. Warrior Pilos is proud and dutiful but he must decide between victory and his morals…now that he hates the person giving him orders. Singer Xac, the most powerful man on the continent, fights delirium as his mind is now ruined by the machinations of others.

For the rebels, Lilla has stepped up and is now a respected leader but he is plagued by doubts after his husband’s betrayal. Xessa, slayer of Pechaqueh gods, vows to continue the fight to the bitter end – but can she keep everyone safe? Meanwhile double agent Ilandeh is far from the battle as she searches for answers at the edges of the continent. Struggling with her own identity, she must decide which side to fight for.

My favourite chapters were from the perspectives of Lilla and Tayan.

Lilla, after being physically separated from everyone in book two, was fully unleased in The Dark Feather. Based on the frequency of his chapters, Lilla felt like the lead character of the novel. It was great that he was given so much development as we see and feel his emotional journey throughout the book.

As Lilla fights alongside the rebels in the city’s streets, Tayan’s chapters are set within the Singer’s palace. I’ve always loved that Stephens makes sure to show multiple locations through her characters’ perspectives. Through Tayan we learn about the endless plotting and scheming as the Empire becomes more desperate and brutal in their efforts to end the uprising.

One character in this trilogy I haven’t discussed in detail in my reviews is Xac. By definition, Xac is an evil character. As Singer, he is the leader of an empire that single-mindedly wants to absorb all other nations and reinvent their people in the Empire’s own image – with full-blooded Pechanqueh at the top of the new hierarchy. Xac’s monstrous appearance is a metaphor for the twisted and equally monstrous ideals of the Empire. Yet The Dark Feather adds a note of pity to Xac’s song. Now deformed and mostly delusional, in his rare moments of lucidity Xac realises what he has been transformed into by his trusted advisors and their quest for personal power. A figurehead like the Singer could never have a redemption arc but by giving him self-awareness, Stephens adds another dimension to this puppet-king.

One of my favourite parts about the first two instalments of this trilogy was its strong and engaging female characters – something I felt The Dark Feather struggled to deliver on. Due to her sporadic chapters and lack of action during the first half of the novel, Xessa felt more like a supporting character than a primarily protagonist as a lot of her chapters lacked the urgency that featured in, for example, Lilla’s. Elsewhere Ilandeh, despite her excellent character growth in Jaguar, was relegated to the edges of the map for much of the story. An unfortunate consequence of this was that her chapters only became relevant to the wider plot in the last 100 pages of this 560 page book. Xessa and Ilandeh were two of the characters whose perspectives I was most looking forward to reading so I was disappointed that they weren’t used more frequently.

The book is filled with action scenes, war councils, and moments of emotional reckoning. One plot moment I was surprised that wasn’t included in the story was a showdown between Pilos and either Xessa or Ilandeh. Jaguar did a fantastic job of building up tension between the characters and, during The Dark Feather, they fantasised about the next time they would cross paths with each other. Only this never happened. Pilos and Ilandeh never meet and while Pilos and Xessa do get a moment to scrap together it isn’t the one-on-one brawler duel the story seemed to have been building towards. Instead Pilos’ big dramatic showdown scene happens with Lilla and other members of the rebels. While it does make sense to place the two generals in direct physical combat, I would have preferred a big cathartic moment in Pilos, Xessa and Ilandeh’s journey.

So how did The Dark Feather do as the conclusion to a trilogy? While it didn’t include all of the moments I’d been hoping for, from the very beginning the story had a sense of finality to it. The book made sure to wrap up plot threads and it provided a definitive end to the wider story. Despite my mixed feelings about the final novel I am still really pleased that I discovered this series.

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