I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unvarnished thoughts.

One of the things I like about Wheeler's novels is that you know you're in for twists.

Fate's Ransom twists and turns more than a cat falling out of a tree. But will the story land on its feet?

Ransom is one of those characters I feel so sorry for. He is beholden to the King's line, and his special powers from the Fountain come through being loyal. When the king is an eejit, cruel, and mercenary, Ransom isn't given a pass to choose a better person. Instead, he must choose if he will betray his gift to save his family. But what will happen if he chooses family over his country?

I enjoyed seeing some of the next generation on the page. The king's heir and daughter, Ransom's sons, and a bit of his daughter are all there, giving hints of future possible stories.

I also liked that Claire felt more active in this novel through epistolary elements. Sometimes, I feel like some lines of action were out of order. If it's glossed over and then explained a few paragraphs later, it makes my brain stutter—thinking back to what I'd already read. This is a minor detail, and because this was an ARC, it might be fixed in the final version.

Finally, I like it when a series has an end. Even if there will be another spin-off, I want a sense of resolution. Fate's Ransom did this for me.

If you enjoy the original Kingfountain series, you won't want to miss the stories with Ransom.

The final journey for our loyal hero Ransom Barton. This is a spoiler free review but you may need to have some tissues handy is all I'm going to say. The tale picks up as King Benedict lies wounded and Ransom fights to regain his home Josselin castle. Events lead to the loss of the Wizr board and the ascendancy of Jon Landon to the throne, who is influenced by others into some very poor decisions. The various threads that have been laid are all pulled back together, including Contances' son Drew, Alix the poisoner and of course with Ransom's main antagonist, Estian. Through the friendships gained, his marriage to Claire and his relationships with his children, all the losses he sustained throughout this story, you understand that the end of the journey for Ransom would be quite bittersweet. Overall, this is a strong finish to this series and I enjoyed each of the books. Learning a little about the life of knight William Marshall, who Ransom is based on, certainly adds a lot to the enjoyment of Ransom's tale through all of the stories.

I was given a free copy of Fate’s Ransom by Jeff Wheeler (author), 47North (publisher) and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Fate’s Ransom is the fourth and final novel in the First Argetines series and will be published on January 4, 2021. Knight’s Ransom, Warrior’s Ransom, and Lady’s Ransom are the first three books in the series.

I did not read Knight’s Ransom, but I read Warrior’s Ransom and Lady’s Ransom.

This review will be spoiler free.

I would characterize Fate’s Ransom as high fantasy featuring knights, kings, court intrigue, family drama, and magic against a backdrop of war and possibly a coup. I characterized Warrior’s Ransom and Lady’s Ransom the same.

The setting of the story in what appears to be medieval European kingdoms at war with noble families choosing sides.

The magic system is limited to the main character and one of the antagonists, and it seems the ability to use magic is innate.

Fate’s Ransom has one main character (same as in Warrior’s Ransom and Lady’s Ransom) who is knight and is virtuous, kind, loyal, honest, reliable, and nearly infallible. The added layer to the character of the main character is his wife is a featured as a significant minor character. The main character is three-dimensional and very engaging. As Mr. Wheeler did in both the second and third novels, he does a commendable job in fleshing out several of the side characters that interact with the main character. Each of these characters exhibit a different attribute or trait that the main character possesses but still and unique. More importantly, each of these side characters has his or her own character arc and add something to overall story.

Unfortunately, as I noted in both the second and third novels in the series, I thought the antagonists are flat and one-dimensional in Lady’s Ransom. I would have preferred if Mr. Wheeler wrote some of this story from their perspectives to get a better idea as to their motivations and reasons for doing what they are doing.

On a more positive note, I really enjoyed the letters of the main character’s wife at the beginning of each chapter. I think it took me until reading this story in the series that I understood why one of her letters is at the beginning of each chapter by setting the mood and tone of each chapter.

Additionally, the pacing of the story is at a steady clip from start to finish without any dead spots.

I would recommend Fate’s Ransom and the entire First Argetines series to readers who like fantasy stories featuring knights, warring within royal families, some political intrigue, and told in a straight-forward manner.

I rate Lady’s Ransom 4 stars.

I would like to thank Jeff Wheeler, 47North, and Netgalley for the free ARC.

Still a few weeks before this comes out so I want to keep my review of the ARC I read spoiler free. This was a well written series. It won’t be the series for everyone. It’s very male focused but the center character is a good and true knight even when bending his honor would make things better for him personally.
The content of the series is teen safe. There’s death and a lot of it. But even though there’s war after war in this series it’s not written in a gratuitous fashion. If you want a tale of masculine honor and knightly virtues this would be a good series for you. I enjoyed the story of the knight Ransom greatly.

There's always a temptation as a reader, to glance outside the four corners of the book, and use that knowledge to predict the outcome. Having read al of Jeff Wheeler's other books, I knew how this had to end, if not how each character's story ended. and when the big battle set itself up, the question finally posed stark and immediate to Ransom, there was no question what his answer would be. Yet almost 25% of the book remained???

In spite of that, Wheeler maintained a level of tension commensurate with an epic last battle for yes, almost a full quarter of the book! Hands down, best book in the series - even if I still would like to read the story of the Ceredigion's Poisoner. We know through glimpses over the story, much of her background, her motivations, the choices which drove her - in many ways, I think she was more fully realized than Claire. I won't give away her story here, or hint at any redemption arc, but I would enjoy reading more of her story from her viewpoint. Perhaps in a short story or two? As villian, she was very human, in scene we could empathize, or at least understand, her point of view. Perhaps Jeff's most successful villian to date.

I admit that it took me two days to read this, I plead exhaustion, not any measure od disinterest, and gladly gave up many hours sleep in which to do so. In my view, the strongest book of the First Argentine series.

and yes - full disclosure - I did recieve a free digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. As my reivewws of some other books I've recieved via NetGalley should make clear, or my Goodreads shelf (I have a custom status, "Returned as Unreadable" for some books I've checked out) that's not a promise I take lightly.

As always with this author’s books I found myself completely caught up in this story and sad to see it and the series end. I thought the last book started off slow and stumbled with the emphasis on Ransom and Claire’s honeymoon period but there’s no concern about any of that here. This book starts off strong and continues that way to the end. This book could easily have been split up into more books had the author been inclined because there is so much going on. If you are of this series it is a must read conclusion, and if you have not read this series you should immediately go back to the beginning and enjoy binging all of them straight through. I really loved the children in this story so I hope at some point they may get their own stories told. I will be excitedly waiting for his next release. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It always amazes me how much I have grown to love this author. This is the last and FINAL installment (at least for now) of this series, but it is actually the latest in a much longer series that is based in the world of Kingfountain. This book is NOT a standalone book. You at least have to read the prior 3 books in the series to REALLY understand what is going on, but if you are REALLY wanting to get the full picture, you need to start at the beginning of the Kingfountain series. You will NOT be disappointed.

So, this book starts where the last book left off. We now have Jon-Landon ascending to the Hollow Crown and he does NOT like Ransom. Ransom is torn between trying to fulfill what he knows the Fountain has asked of him and trying to hold back the VERY NORMAL feelings of anger at the AWFUL and horrible treatment he is recieving (and publicly) from his new King. Anyway, there are summaries out there everywhere. Just know that this was so hard to read. I have grown to adore Ransom (and Claire). This book was a challenge because you just KNEW that things were not looking good and for some reason, it seems that Ransom is always the one that has to suffer. Hasn't this poor man had to suffer enough? Sorry, off on a tangent....

Even with the hard things, there were great things. Seeing his boys (the twins) made me smile every time they were on the page. The place where Mr. Wheeler excels is in the character relationships. I grew to LOVE Dearley, Dawson, Simon (of course) and absolutely loved Ransom and Claire's children. This book really showcases loyalty and honor, and the consequences for not bowing to public pressure and continuing to stay on the right path.

Did I cry? Yep, you better believe it. I think though, that the ending was done in a way that made the reader come away still feeling like this was a HEA. Typical HEA this was not, but I was okay with that.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

Thought this was a very good, albeit sad ending to the series. Fitting ending for a knight such as Ransom. I honestly thought he would come out on top but also sacrificing his life for the greater good also fits his mold. I thought the storyline picked up strong and was no stop throughout the novel. My only qualm was the large gaps in years between some chapters. I get the timeline moved quickly but just seemed like an unnecessary feature. Glad I was able to follow the series through.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

It doesn't matter how many books I have waiting to be read, if a Jeff Wheeler book becomes available it immediately jumps to the top of my list! It almost physically pained me to wait until I finish the book I was currently reading so I could start this. I can't say enough how much I LOVE anything he writes, and yet again I was not disappointed. Everything about this- the world building, the characters, the way scenes are written with just enough detail to picture it perfectly- is top notch. I can't get enough. I had about 20 minutes left and was sneaking glimpses here and there while at work, trying not to cry happy/sad tears at the ending.

Fate’s Ransom is a fantasy that draws you in and keeps you on the edge. Ransom Barton makes you fall in love with his character, emotional turmoil and resolve as his journey has involved continuous changes.

The words are written in a way to bring you into a world of War conflict, betrayal and love mixed in. Showing you pages that will cause you to laugh, cry and not let you put the book down till the last page.