The Broken Binding Fantasy Sub #10: November-December 2025
Those Broken Binding Fantasy series are really coming in fast, I think, haha. Two months have already passed, and voila, another one has been completed. Indeed: this time it was a duology, although I think there are plans to continue writing in this world.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, let’s get back to basics and show which series was revealed for the November and December 2025 Fantasy Subscription.
The announced series is The Band by Nicholas Eames. Currently, it consists of two novels with the same characters, but not so much a single, continuous story, if I understand correctly.
Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk – or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay’s door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.
It’s time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.
I’d heard about this series before and was vaguely interested, but at the same time I also thought: this might not be my cup of tea. I find the concept of older characters incredibly original and refreshing, but it also sounded a bit like a typical “guys-guys” book to me, if you know what I mean.
Until The Broken Binding started sharing their concept art. That’s when the scales started tipping towards: “Okay, yeah, this actually looks really cool.” And so I eventually decided to pick this series up.
As always, the wrapping was top-notch at The Broken Binding, though there was a slight change this time. No more gold wrapping paper, but brown paper printed with their logo, and no black ribbon either. A little less of a classic gift feeling, but still incredibly well-made, with the matching series sticker as a nice touch.
And this is the artwork that clinched it for me. How epic does this look? Wow, what powerful illustrations by @juliendelval.art, an illustrator I’d never heard of before, but who does truly phenomenal work here. These illustrations turn the books into instant eye-catchers, perfectly complemented by typography by @jeffbrown_graphics.
Even without dust jackets, these editions continue to impress. The hardcovers feature a printed illustration in deep, rich colours by @jarelthreat. Another new name for me, but his use of light immediately caught my eye. And most importantly: what kind of stories are these? What are all these beasts and creatures? This looks truly absurdly epic.
The sprayed edges were again illustrated by @juliendelval.art and therefore perfectly match the covers. They are detailed, colourful, and only raise more questions. Airships too?! Haha, yes, these illustrations do an excellent job of piquing my curiosity for this series.
Both books also feature head and tail bindings — those small, coloured strips of fabric at the top and bottom of the spine — which provide extra strength and a more luxurious look. Both books also have a fabric ribbon bookmark integrated into the spine binding.
The endpapers also received extensive attention, with exceptionally detailed and extremely colourful illustrations by @thedurrrrian, already the third illustrator for this series. Once again, images that pique my curiosity, although I remain a little wary of a possible overabundance of action and fights, something that doesn’t always work for me if it gets to be too much. But visually? Really awesome. Just those colours. And that variety of characters! Especially the man with the bunny ears made me do a double take… because, uh, what’s his story anyway? How did he get those ears? 😅
As always with my Tier 1 set, both books are numbered with my number 325 and signed by the author.
Each book also comes with three black-and-white illustrations, each by a fourth artist, @kkeeleart. I haven’t gone looking for these illustrations yet, wary of spoilers, but I have no doubt they will be high-quality and beautiful, judging by the illustrator’s Instagram page!
Finally, the packages also included matching bookmarks and something new: a trading card specific to this series, intended as a collector’s item and a souvenir of the subscription.
Wowie. The Broken Binding always manages to pique the curiosity of readers who might have previously thought, “This might not be my genre.” Illustrations by three different artists make this duology phenomenally beautiful and intriguing. The styles complement each other surprisingly well, and it’s clear that recurring characters were coordinated, ensuring their appearance remains consistent across all the illustrations.
So I’m absolutely thrilled with these editions. They bring my total number of completed The Broken Binding Fantasy series to…ten. Of which I haven’t read a single one yet. For shame, Charlotte. I already know what one of my reading resolutions for 2026 will be.
Cheers,
Charlotte
