The Nameless Land picks up right where The Witch Roads left off. I read The Witch Roads right before tackling The Nameless Land, and I’d recommend doing the same. It’s really a long story cut in two, not a book one and its sequel.

Elen is a deputy courier, a person of humble birth thrown in with a prince and his retinue. She spends her life walking her route to deliver news, and palace intrigues are unfamiliar to her. She has no family but her young nephew, and her thoughts stray to his safety above all things, sometimes to her own peril. She becomes good friends with high born warden Xilsi, and she earns the respect of the other wardens guarding the prince. She has good sense and is usually in good humor, and it’s hard not to like her despite her lack of deference to the others. Xilsi is also a delight.

I found The Nameless Land to be not quite as engrossing as the first, mostly due to the absence of a main character from book one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. There are some surprises, predictable and unpredictable, and a lot of character development. I really enjoyed watching the characters bond and become friends, or at least get to understand each other better. Even the prince becomes a better person.

The world building is good – enough for us to understand, but not so much as to bore with unneeded detail. I like that some mysteries are left unsolved. It’s so refreshing to see likable and relatable adult characters and likable young adults still learning how to navigate the world.

The two Witch Roads books are advertised as a duology, and the second book ends perfectly, and yet I think there is at least one more story with these characters to be told. Maybe even another duology. I hope the author will consider writing additional stories set in this world.

I read an advance reader copy of The Nameless Land from Netgalley.

Quick very high level summary.
The Nameless Land continues the Journey begun in The Witch Roads. The royal party finds themselves in a mythical land they never imagined they would reach. Its a journey of betrayal, difficult choices, with consequences of the past and demanding that the characters constantly fight for survival. While Erin confronts her past, Prince Gevulin must forge alliances If they wish to survive this journey.

My Take.
The world building is amazing. Such a vivid picture of the politics and social class that are at the center of the plot. There is a lot of information to take in so those who are not used to epic fantasy world building may find it tedious and a bit overwhelming. Me personally, this is just the kind of detail I live for. Elliott paints not just a picture of the journey but she pulls the reader in and immerses them in the story. Through out this book we see both the Prince and Erin continue to develop and grow as they face many life threatening challenges. Overall I enjoyed this book just as much as the first. We are left with some open ended questions so I am sad this is a duology but not mad about the ending at all.

3.75 stars!

I definitely liked this more than the first one! I think if you're a big fan of the first book in the duology you'll be very satisfied with this.

After many years, Elen returns to the place she and Aoving ran from. Alongside the Prince's retinue, the group face new political challenges and Elen's past comes back to haunt (iykyk) her. I wasn't a big fan of the first book, and I think some of the problems I had with it continue in this one but I did like this more on the whole. The pace picks up a lot, and I think by nature of it being a second book the world building becomes a lot easier to swallow. I do like Elen, and as you get more insight into the Prince he becomes a more engaging character. I think the world building generally doesn't work for me because it feels like a lot of vague distinct fantasy elements without a lot of cohesion. Also, fantasy stories about traveling are kind of hard for me to stay engaged with because each scene feels procedural.

If you are a Kate Elliot fan or you really like the first book, this is a great sequel! However, if you didn't love the first book I don't think this one is going to redeem the series for you.

Thank you to Kate Elliot and Tor Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

Me gasping when I saw that my request for an e-arc has been accpeted. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for graciously granting me an e-arc

I just love this world and the characters that Kate Elliott has woven. I know this is a duology, but I would be ecstatic if more books came out! That said, I am satiated and satisifed with the conclusion of this duology.

There is more travelling in this installment, but I think it's on a quicker pace than the first book and we meet more characters and receive more information about the world. I would gladly read more books in this series just for more lore and world building. The Prince Gevulin has also grown on me with his character development in a surprising way. He was irksome in the first book, but grew into a character I enjoyed, particularly so because of something he does near the end of the book that I shall not spoil.
I believe with the conclusion of this duology that it's been cemented as one of my favorites of this year, I also read it in like a day because I was so excited for it.

5 🌟

The world that Kate Elliot set up in book 1 just gets better in the follow up novel. I had felt like there were times reading "The Witch Roads" where things got a little bogged down in details and plot set up, but the waiting was completely paid off in this sequel. There was action, adventure, mystery and intrigue, tasteful romance, philosophical musings, redemption and revenge; seriously, it was all here in "The Nameless Land". I felt the build- up to the book's climax was well paced and dynamic, and the climax itself was satisfying and given the time it needed to develop and fully conclude (no spoilers here though, just go read the book!).

I also think the characters that Kate Elliot created in this series are really fantastic. All too often we see one dimensional portrayal, or characters that fall very heavily on common tropes to carry the book forward. Not so with this duology. I felt that every character was well balanced with positive and negative attributes, not everyone was likeable, they all had flaws and idiosyncrasies. And you as a reader understood why this was necessary and important to the book, the actions that characters were or were not making made sense in the context of what you were reading.

All in all, this was a fantastic fantasy series that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with an itch for a really good duology. If you like detail-oriented books with rich worlds and settings, you'll delight in this novel, I cannot recommend it enough.

A strong and satisfying sequel to The Witch Roads. The Nameless Land expands the world in ways I didn’t expect, with plenty of sharp turns, betrayals, shifting alliances, and some heavy emotional fallout. The pacing dragged a little in the middle, but the payoff was solid. If this is the end of the story, it lands well. If there’s more, I’ll absolutely keep going. Either way, I’m still thinking about the final chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an excellent follow-up to The Witch Roads! I loved how lots of small things from the previous book became plot relevant in this one. I also really liked getting to know Gevulin as a character and seeing his growth. The haunt’s return was a delight as expected, and I loved his interactions with everyone. This book struck a great balance between new and old locations and characters. While I’d love to see more stories in this world (such as the thing the characters are about to do at the end, or seeing more of the atoners or the Shorn), the ending of this book was very satisfying, and I’d be content leaving things as is too,

A cute fantasy that would work perfect as a pallet cleanser in between larger books or series which is what I did. I am now wxcited to go and read any other books I can find by Kate Elliot!

I adored The Witch Roads, so I couldn't have been more excited to receive an ARC of its sequel The Nameless Land. The first book was a hard act to follow and so the Nameless Land doesn't try to capture the pastoral, sometimes grim, sometimes oddly cozy strolling pace of the journey of the first book, instead, it's a sprint. There was a lot I loved about this book: the return of beloved characters, the development and appreciation of friendships, the way it made me care about characters I'd previously disliked! My only nitpick is just that it feels like this could be a trilogy. We are left with a number of unanswered questions at the conclusion of this book, and while Elen seems content to live in the present and not let them bother her, I, as a reader, want another book and another. But on the other hand, maybe learning to be content is what I should take away from my time with this duology. Regardless, I still recommend it for all the friends you'll make along the way.

This picks up immediately after The Witch Roads end. Without spoilers, Elen and her companions have been thrust into a dangerous political situation in a new land. Can the prince forge new alliances? Can El extract her loved ones and friends from almost certain death?

I am the absolute luckiest of ducks and was given access to The Nameless Land mere days after finishing The Witch Roads. The Witch Roads is easily one of my favorite books from 2025. In addition to some qualities I particularly love (a queernorm world! a middle aged protagonist!), it’s a really engaging road trip story focused on the developing relationships between the travelers.

I’m happy to report that The Nameless Land is a lovely successor and a fitting conclusion to the duology. There’s still a lot of travel in this one, but the pace is much quicker to correspond to the increasing danger. Learning more about the land of El’s birth is fascinating. I loved seeing our cast of travelers fleshed out even more, from subtle changes in the prince to Xilsi and El’s friendship. There are a few dangling threads that could be spun into another story (how wonderful that would be!), but this is a satisfying end.

These were my first Kate Elliott books, but they will definitely not be the last.

Great sequel to an already amazing first book. I wa patiently waiting for this installment and it was well worth the wait. It continued the characters arc and journey so well among the plot being well built and I really enjoyed so many aspects of the world building. A great series for epic fantasy readers to get gripped into.

Cannot properly review this book as Netgalley has made it difficult to review anything. This is an accessibility issue now going from ASCM to LCPL.

The royal party is chased into the mist, and crosses into a mythic land that is Elen's birthright. A place she fled with her sister, determined to die on her own terms. What she found was so much better, and that makes going back all that harder. Expecting betrayal, danger and a very narrow path to success... she's determined to do all she can to survive.

Why I started this book: The Witch Roads grabbed me, and I couldn't wait to read what came next.

Why I finished it: The story builds on the adventure and choices made in the first one, continuing on the high stakes' games of politics and survival. Elen must guide the prince into her past nightmare, in order to protect her nephew. Compelling story that I devoured. Elliott's website claims that this is a duology, but she left enough open that she can revisit this world.