Broken in spirit after his exile from Mira, Arnacin yearns to find his way back home to Enchantress Island. Captured by pirates and then rescued by the Nomacirrians, he discovers there’s one last thing he must do before he can find peace.

As Mira falls around her, Valoretta becomes a prisoner of savages while her beloved home is destroyed and its people are scattered.

Will Arnacin and Valoretta remain victims of their circumstances or find the courage they each need to overcome the past?

Book 2 of the The Black Phantom Chronicles series.

Valoretta, the Queen of Mira, has seen the end of Mira. Arnacin, an idealist in pursuit of a hero’s story, has seen the end of his idealism. What does one do when one reaches the end? In their case, they continue. Esther Wallace’s novel The Eternal Struggle forms a dark sequel to The Savage War. She brings hero and heroine into close fellowship with loss and brutality, with only half-believed hope to relieve the darkness. The story wanders through diverse and memorable territory, most notably a pirates’ island and a terrible prison. Arnacin and Valoretta feel passive through much of it, and the story occasionally reflects this lack of direction. Although this darkness will be too much for some readers, others will be intrigued by the moral struggle and colorful scenes of The Eternal Struggle.

Best for: Fans of fantasy and dark fiction.

Discern: Multiple battles and executions; violence toward defenseless people, including children; a siege leads to severe suffering, including starvation, suicide, and allusions to cannibalism; implied rape.