I acquired a evaluate copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my evaluate and all opinions are my very own.

The Eternal by Alix E. Harrow

Mogsy’s Score: 4.5 of 5 stars

Style: Fantasy

Sequence: Stand Alone

Writer: Tor Books (October 28, 2025)

Size: 320 pages

Creator Info: Web site

Clearly, Alix E. Harrow is a author I like; I wouldn’t have learn so a lot of her books if I didn’t. However there’s simply one thing about The Eternal that feels totally different. Not solely is it an enormous step ahead in each execution and ambition, it’s additionally on an entire different degree for the creator.

The story follows Owen Mallory, a former soldier whose latest life selections appear to have solely deepened the frustration of his devoted however demanding father. After returning residence from struggle, Owen decides to attempt his hand at being a scholar, impressed by his lifelong fascination with the legendary girl knight referred to as Una Eternal. It’s mentioned that Sir Una’s gallantry and sacrifices helped set up the nice nation of Dominion when she fought alongside its founder, Queen Yvanne. Over the centuries, nevertheless, these tales have develop into additional ingrained into the nation’s tradition and mythology, blurring the traces between reality and fiction, thus inspiring Owen to uncover who the true Una was behind the songs and tales.

Out of nowhere, he catches an enormous break. A shock arrives for him within the type of an artifact so uncommon that its existence is sort of legendary, a e-book referred to as The Dying of Una Eternal, which is supposedly a firsthand account of what occurred to the knight in her last days. Then, upon his examination of the e-book, Owen receives one other shock: contained inside its pages is a method of sending him again to the distant previous, to the time when Una Eternal nonetheless lived. After all, it’s not each day a person will get to fulfill his hero, however quickly, he discovers there could also be extra to his position than merely being an observer. Historical past is fluid, and there are forces insisting that it flows a sure manner, even as soon as Owen and Una discover one another and take a look at time and time once more to forge the long run that they need for themselves.

Fairly merely, The Eternal is a beautiful story, displaying a complexity and confidence I hadn’t seen from Harrow till now, and truthfully, not from many authors in any respect. This novel genuinely stunned me, the way in which it took daring dangers with its construction and a novel strategy to its themes. Impressed by chivalric lore but in addition involving time touring parts, it shines a lightweight on the way in which readers have a look at tales themselves. Like, what variations of historical past survive, and why? And what will get left behind when that’s determined?

After all, the time journey side could be disorienting, however then once more, time journey nearly at all times is. What makes The Eternal work regardless of this dizzying confusion is how unapologetically it embraces it. The repetition and time loops are woven into the shifting POVs, reinforcing the e-book’s questions on free will and sacrifice. Sure, this story calls for endurance and, granted, I wasn’t at all times in essentially the most affected person temper, however I’m glad I caught it out as a result of the payoff is very large as patterns began rising and earlier scenes took on new meanings.

Additionally, no evaluate of The Eternal could be full with out mentioning the outstanding character work. The love story on the coronary heart of this e-book wouldn’t be so highly effective if our protagonists weren’t written so effectively. Owen, who begins as a stuffy scholar with an unhealthy obsession, steadily comes into his personal, rising into somebody able to actual braveness and keenness with the center of a hero. Una, in the meantime, transforms from the symbolic and distant determine we all know from Owen’s time into a completely realized human being as soon as we meet her within the flesh, full with hopes and goals. Already conscious of the legend she is destined to be, and struggling underneath the burden of these expectations, she and the starstruck Owen begin off awkwardly at first, however fairly quickly that relationship slowly builds towards belief and luxury. Finally, their bond deepens to the purpose the place their battle to carry on to 1 one other, whilst destiny works relentlessly to drag them aside, is what makes the story so gut-wrenchingly emotional.

By the point I reached the ultimate web page, it was clear that is Alix E. Harrow’s finest work but. It’s no exaggeration to say this can be a novel that stays with you. It’s melancholic and touching, exploring the messy relationship between love and troublesome selections. Additionally it is a narrative that feels basic and timeless, each thematically and in tone. In that sense, it jogged my memory strongly of The Invisible Lifetime of Addie LaRue, one other story that buried me in an avalanche of feels. Suffice it to say, each glowing evaluate you’ve seen for The Eternal is on to one thing. That is one I wholeheartedly suggest.