Just picked up The House of Sundering Flames and very unsure of what happened in the prior two books? There’s been a gap of a few years between books so this is totally normal–here’s your guide to what you need to know when starting the book.

(Please scroll down to get to the content: I put a wall of dots and text to prevent accidental spoilers in case you didn’t intend to land on this particular page)

WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS

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SPOILERS, scroll down to get there

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STILL SPOILERS, a little more scrolling down if you want them…

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HERE YOU GO!

The Great Houses of Paris are reeling… House Silverspires, the first and greatest House–founded by Lucifer Morningstar and now headed by his successor Selene–is now at the bottom of the House hierarchy after a curse overruns it. Morningstar is resurrected from the dead (by a rival House’s plot) and comes back to life with no memories. He strikes up a friendship with Selene’s idealistic partner Emmanuelle.

The neighbouring House Hawthorn, headed by the sadistic Fallen Asmodeus, sees its chance to rise and brokers a marriage alliance with the dragon kingdom hidden under the river Seine. Thuan, a dragon prince infiltrated in House Hawthorn, ends up as the candidate husband in the arranged marriage to Asmodeus–which turns out to be an invasion project of the dragon kingdom.

Meanwhile, in the Houseless Annamite (Vietnamese) community, Asmodeus’s Fall-sister Berith and her pregnant lover Francoise find themselves the target of a rival House’s scheme to destroy all that belongs to House Hawthorn, and are forced to flee when their shelter is destroyed. The rival House’s scheme also leads to magical ice choking off House Hawthorn.

Thuan, a virtual prisoner in Hawthorn after his wedding to Asmodeus, uses Fallen magic and the general disarray in the House to force a fusion of his dragon water magic and Asmodeus’s magic, and install himself as co-head of the House. He and Asmodeus banish the ice, and enter an uneasy alliance to rule Hawthorn.

Ex-Immortal Philippe, imprisoned in House Silverspires, escapes to the Annamite community after the death of Isabelle, a Fallen from House Silverspires who was once his friend but turned arrogant and cruel. He manages to resurrect Isabelle using one of Berith’s spells but his fear of her as a Fallen turns her mortal. To assuage his guilt, Philippe promises to take care of Isabelle.

Berith, Francoise and their newborn daughter Camille become Hawthorn dependents.

(Not much relevant to book 3 except as an Easter egg but Madeleine, House Silverspires’ alchemist, is cast out from Silverspires when her addiction to the drug angel essence–made from ground Fallen bones–is discovered. She’s dragged back to Hawthorn, her addiction to essence forcibly broken, and enters an uneasy relationship to her tormentor Asmodeus. By the end of the book, they’ve attained a wary trust for each other).

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