“All songs end, but new songs are just as beautiful “
5 Stars out of 5
I am so thrilled to be back again bringing you all the final book in The Song of Kamaria, At The Threshold of the Universe. I love this world with all my heart and its both exciting and bittersweet to know its reached its end in the current song. The Journey that this world took me on is one that I will hold close to my heart. From the world, to the characters, to the creatures, everything Bruno brought to life was nothing short of pure beauty. I look forward to seeing what future projects Bruno will bring into the world and should he ever go back to Kamaria I will be there waiting, ready to hear the song again.
Don’t forget to check out my reviews of the first two books in the trilogy, In the Orbit of Sirens (#1), and On the Winds of Quasars (#2).
Make your way to the end of this post and find out information regarding a Giveaway
At the Threshold of the Universe by T.A. Bruno
Series: The Song of Kamaria #3
Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
Intended Age Group: General
Pages: 496
Published: May 31, 2022
Publisher: Feathersong, LLC (Self Published)
Content Warnings:
Shown on Page: Body Horror, Violence, Gore
Alluded To: Cannibalism, Child Harm, Murder
Intergalactic Planetary • Star Man • You Got a Friend in Me
THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO THE SONG OF KAMARIA TRILOGY.
ALL SONGS END.
War ravages Kamaria as an old enemy resurfaces from the depths of the ocean. Offering no support in the coming battles, the Auk’nai isolate themselves in their tightly guarded Nest. Outgunned and outmatched, humanity once again trembles on the edge of obliteration.
The Castus family is torn apart. Denton fights on the front lines, hoping to free Cade from a nightmarish foe. Meanwhile, Eliana and Nella set out on a path that will change everything they understand about the Sirens. The Song will end, but who will remain to hear its final verse?
Review Time
Once again Bruno has brought on all the emotions, we got heartbreak, fear, anger, and buried among all of that we also got forgiveness, hope, and love. At the Threshold of the Universe is an action packed, captivated ending to a beautiful song.
At the Threshold of the Universe picks up literally where On the Winds of Quarsars ends, and it is relentless with the action. Bruno wastes no time throwing us back into the mayhem that the Castus family is currently going through. This family goes through so much in this book that one would start to think they would lose hope, but this family has proven time and time again that hope is something they refuse to let go of even when it seems all is lost.
‘His mind stirred with worry, horror, and loudest of all—-hope.‘
This story is relentless when it comes to action, if you want nonstop action this is for you. There never seemed to be a lull in the story, and it makes sense as this revolves around the Undriel, the machine absorbers from the Sol System who are literally wrecking havoc on Kamaria. After spending 2 books dealing with threats from Kamaria, seeing the Undreil in action was terrifying. I have always commented on how beautiful the creatures of Kamaria are but now I know how horrifying of a creature Bruno can also create. The Undreil are a nightmare brought to life. And the way Bruno allowed us explore and learn their creation was a mix of terrifying and absolutely heartbreaking, im looking at you Antoni, you found perfection baby!
Everything that I have been wanting to know about the Undreil was answered in this book and so much more that I did not want to know was also revealed. I found myself sitting at a crossroads for some of them. On one hand you want to hate them all but then Bruno decides to give you their backgrounds, and slowly you start to have mixed feelings about them. (Not all of them though Halaria I’m looking at you!!) Bruno also cunningly tied in parts from the first book that as it was unraveling I was slowly piecing it together and to many times in these backstories was I left in utter disbelief, sitting there on my bed completely shocked. I walked away with having a major hatred for a few specific Undriels.
The story revolves heavily around Cade and what he goes through after he has been handed over to the Enemy (this happens at the end of book 2). We learn all of the Undriel’s history through his chapters and Bruno employed a very interesting method that we have already been introduced to in book 1. I have to admit I was not expecting what happens to him, to have happened and I kept expecting some weird reversal miracle that would reverse what had happened to him but that doesn’t occur and to be honest I’m glad for that. When I think about it though, Cades story is without a doubt the most bittersweet, I won’t go into detail but it’s a different kind of tragic that makes me sad when thinking about it.
Nella, oh sweet beautiful Nella, she is also a main focus but not as heavily as her brother, Cade really does eat up a huge chunk of this book but Nella does get her moments. To see this quite, soft, nurturing woman go into battle with a fury charged by the love for her family was emotional to say the least. It was her chapters towards the end that really broke me and left me crying.
My heart hurt for Denton to many times as I was reading this story. This man has been through so much and continues to move forward, continues to hold on to his hope, continues to believe that everything will get better, and even when it seems he has finally given up that hope someone comes along and pulls him back. Denton has grown on me over the course of the trilogy and I love his relentlessness to not giving up, this man puts his whole heart and life on the line for those he loves, and that’s my favorite kind of guy. So to see him start to lose his hope, start to give up and feel the constant failures of his attempts piling on him to watch him continually beat himself up over everything that goes wrong and slowly wanting to succumb to his anger, to see the turmoil and pain he was in, it broke my heart. Bruno did an amazing job showing how constant failure leads to breaking one’s spirit, this isn’t a book where Denton’s first attempt is instant success, no this man tries and tries and tries and each time it doesn’t work. Bruno dug in on the realistic way of events never unfolding the way you want them to.
“Denton Castus was ready to fight. He was ready to bring down the vile mechanical creatures that had hurt his son. He tightened his fist and pretended to understand Oritz’s message. He just didn’t believe it.”
At the end of On the Winds of Quasars we learn of the rift that is forming between the Auk’nai and the humans. This rift continues into At the Threshold of the Universe, and I absolutely hated it, but I’m not angry with the Auk’nai and their actions, I understood where they where coming from, their anger and need to want to cut off contact with the humans made sense, they lost so much after the Humans came. Even the actions Talulo makes, I understood where he was coming from, but it broke my heart to see him and Eliana fight, to be angry with each other. I just love and adore the Auk’nai and I hated seeing how all the events where negatively effecting them.
‘Auk’nai have learned much about life since humans have arrived. Many tried to keep the old world unchanged–Mag’ro did, Talulo did.” He put a claw against his chest. “Talulo watched as the auk’nai were torn apart, rendered to nothing. In that nothing, Talulo noticed how strong the auk’nai are.”‘
I was taken by surprise when the Sirens were brought back into the story and we learn the true history of who they are and why and how they ended up on Kamaria. It’s interesting and I won’t lie a few details had me a bit confused at first (this also goes for the Undriel) so make sure your giving the history bits your full attention. But Bruno weaved them back into the tale perfectly and it allowed for all the books to really feel like a completely connected story.
One of the biggest aspects of the story that I truly ‘enjoyed’ was how Bruno didn’t hold back on the negative outcomes of war. He told us the Undriel where relentless and wiped out the Sol System and he showed us just how ruthless and true that really was. So many lives where lost in this, and while most of them where side characters some of them where side characters we have known for awhile but Bruno also has this way of making you feel for the newer ones and then snatches them from you. I mean he made feel all the emotions for Talfryn and I’m not going into detail about who he is but my heart was in pain over him. He showed the negative sides to war and how it scars the families involved. The Castus’s walk away from this carrying extremely heavy scars both physically and mentally.
I will say this is one of the few series where I will allow a last minute death revival to slide. I normally hate this trope since I feel it’s never done right but for me I feel Bruno executed it right and it fits within his stories lore, I don’t appreciate thinking I lost this character in such a tragic manner but I’m okay with the outcome.
Reading At the Threshold of the Universe will leave one both excited for the nonstop action but hurting by all the revelations and outcomes. You’ll find your self both hating and understanding some of the enemies, while also feeling the weight of failure from the hero’s side. It’s an amazing and absolutely bittersweet conclusion to a beautiful song.
Once again the illustrations by Jason Michael Hall are absolutely fantastic and it took everything in my soul to not look at them until I got to them in the book.
T. A. Bruno grew up in a suburb south of Chicago and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. Since then, he has brought stories to life for over a decade as a previsualization artist. At home, he is the proud father of two boys and a husband to a wonderful wife. He released his debut novel, In the Orbit of Sirens, amid a global pandemic in 2020, and it has won multiple awards.
Last but not least there is also a Giveaway!
Prize: A Full Signed Set of the Song of Kamaria Series!
Starts: June 16, 2022 at 12:00am EST
Ends: June 22, 2022 at 11:59pm EST
Intotheheartwyld 
Pingback: AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE UNIVERSE—BOOK TOUR! | T. A. Bruno
I’m glad that the series had a good ending.
LikeLike