The Griffin Mage Trilogy is about magic, politics, loyalty and griffins. It has excellent worldbuilding, lovely writing and characters I immediately cared about. Law of the Broken Earth is set a few years after Lord of the Changing Winds and Land of the Burning Sands. It's about Bertaud’s younger cousin and ward, 18 year old Mienthe. A spy returned from a neighbouring kingdom seeks protection in Bertaud’s house. When Bertaud and the king are called away, and Tan is pursued by enemy agents, Mienthe has to take on the role of Lady of the Delta.

Although each book in this trilogy focuses on different protagonists, the stories are nevertheless tightly connected. I love the way Law of the Broken Earth expands upon the worldbuilding and makes it relevant to the trilogy’s on-going narrative threads: the different magical abilities found in each kingdom, the political tensions between Feierabiand and Casmantium, the relationship between humans and griffins, and the part Kairaithin plays in that.

“You're apologizing to me? For what? A second timely rescue?”
“You shouldn't have needed a second rescue!” Mienthe exclaimed.
“You’re quite right! I certainly shouldn’t have.” Tan’s one was light, but then he hesitated and went on in a lower voice. “I’d picked up a quill. I was only going to write out some small thing, poetry for you, maybe - I don’t know quite what I had in mind. I think now - in fact, it now seems abundantly obvious - that it’s my legist gift Istierinan’s mage is using. Somehow, I think he finds me when I touch a quill. I have no notion how, but then I’m not a mage. But if you hadn’t provided a second rescue, I’d likely have needed nothing after my misjudgement but a timely funeral, and more likely to have nothing but a muddy hole in the swamp, at that.” ( )

This story, in addition to having characters I could get behind, was much more complex than the first two installments of this trilogy. In this book all of the countries, with their own brands of magic, are involved in a conflict. Linularinum has a hidden agenda that keeps you guessing right up until the end. The Griffins are still bent on world domination while Feierabiand is beset on two different fronts. Not even Casmantian is immune as it will be in serious danger if Feierabiand fails to maintain its borders. There is war, political maneuvering, daring escapes, mortal danger, emerging magic and even a smidgin of romance. Old friends make an appearance while new friends are discovered. The pacing is faster and the action rarely ever stops.

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The Linularinan legist gift is at the center of this final book, which starts in the Delta with Bertraud's orphaned cousin. A hunted spy returning with vital information stolen from the western king's spymaster turns Mienthe's life upside down, as new trouble breaks out in the north.

An excellent end, with many unexpected turns. ( )