The Broken Binding Fantasy Sub #11: January – March 2026
Meh… blogging hasn’t really been going great for me lately.
Aside from writing reviews for the books I’ve read, I just can’t seem to finish any other blog posts. I currently have so many half-finished drafts sitting around, about crafts, outings, things I’ve been working on, things I’ve watched… you name it. But I just can’t seem to bring any of them to completion. And then I finish another book and, once again, a review takes priority.
Ah well, it happens. I’ve long since stopped stressing about it. My years of blogging clearly show this always comes in waves. Those drafts will get finished someday. Or not. That’s fine too.
But! I did want to finally make an effort to catch up on my book box posts, starting with the newest set from my The Broken Binding Fantasy subscription.
For January through March, The Broken Binding once again featured a trilogy.
Namely The Drowning Empire by Andrea Stewart.
Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.
This is a fairly recent trilogy, with the final book published in 2023. And it’s one that has been sitting on my TBR ever since the first book came out. So of course I didn’t even consider skipping this set from The Broken Binding.
The new wrapping paper from The Broken Binding seems to be here to stay. The brown paper with the logo, combined with the series sticker, looks really nice. I do kind of miss the ribbon, not going to lie, but it’s still a very nicely presented package to unwrap.
OMG… these dust jackets. 😍
The illustrations by @danlinz_art are absolutely stunning. The style, the colours, the level of detail! Every time I look at them, I notice something new. These are the kind of covers you can just keep staring at.
I also really love how the colors reflect the original covers: book one in red, book two in blue and book three in purple. A small detail, but it adds a lot of cohesion.
The naked hardcovers feature full illustrations by @patsylascanoart.
And yes, these really increased my curiosity about the story. The creatures look so creepy-cool, and the magic feels instantly epic. This is exactly the kind of design that makes me want to finally pick up a series.
The sprayed edges are based on the dust jacket illustrations, which makes everything feel very cohesive. I’ll never get tired of this. When all elements of a book design tie together like this, it just elevates the entire edition.
As always with The Broken Binding, these are royal hardbacks, complete with head and tail bands and a ribbon bookmark. And of course, all colour-matched to each book.
The endpapers feature beautiful illustrations by @whereiseileen.
Honestly, if I didn’t know these were done by a different artist than the dust jackets, I would have assumed they were by the same person. They match that well.
Since this is a Tier 1 set, all books are numbered (mine is number 325) and signed by the author.
Each book also comes with a matching bookmark, as you may have spotted in an earlier photo. Always useful, always appreciated.
The set also includes a character card illustrated by @volapardus.
Ugh…The Broken Binding is just too good!
This set is absolutely stunning. The illustrations are so beautiful. My photos really don’t do them justice.
This is truly another one of those editions that perfectly shows why I love these subscriptions so much: strong visual cohesion, top quality, and simply books that make me happy to see on my bookshelf.
And I’m absolutely not going to skip the next set either. Because: John Gwynne!!! 🔥
Cheers,
Charlotte
