The Thrice-Bound Fool cover art

The Thrice-Bound Fool

The sequel to the ‘awesome’ (Nicholas Eames) fantasy adventure The Blacktongue Thief, from the bestselling author of Between Two Fires!

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The Thrice-Bound Fool

By: Christopher Buehlman
Narrated by: Christopher Buehlman
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Summary
 The Thrice-Bound Fool is the epic, rollicking next chapter in the bestselling and "awesome as hell" (Nicholas Eames) fantasy adventure series that began with The Blacktongue Thief and The Daughters' War.

Professional thief and inveterate trickster Kinch Na Shannack has always enjoyed a good book. But now his life, and the future of all of Manreach, depends on him deciphering a very bad book indeed; a stolen, sentient tome that tries to kill him every time he opens it-and often when it's closed.

Galva, veteran of the goblin wars and death's sworn handmaiden, has vowed to protect Kinch while he mines the book for its dark magic and even darker secrets. She does so not for Kinch's sake-though the cheeky bastard is growing on her-but because the book is the key to stopping the shadowy tyrants out to kill the queen she serves, and loves.

The ruthless, all-seeing Taker's Guild dogs their every step, and thief and knight must flee the known world entirely if they hope to succeed in their mission. But trouble finds Kinch wherever he goes, and the pair may have traded the devil they know for horrors far darker and hungrier as they enter lands unknown.

Praise for Christopher Buehlman:

'The Blacktongue Thief is fast and fun and filled with crazy magic. I can't wait to see what Christopher Buehlman does next' - Brent Weeks, New York Times bestselling author of the Lightbringer series©2026 Christopher Buehlman (P)2026 Macmillan Audio Action & Adventure Epic Fantasy Magic Feel-Good Thief
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Continue the series
The Daughters' War cover art
The Daughters' War By: Christopher Buehlman

Critic reviews

Buehlman's done it again, and I'm beginning to think he's incapable of writing anything but a masterpiece. Kinch's story is at turns bizarre, exciting, harrowing, hilarious, and profoundly sad. The worldbuilding here is exquisite as well; every time I turned a page it got weirder and more wondrous, with classic tropes twisted into something entirely new.
Delightful. Fast and fun, without losing solid characterization. And magical. Lots of magic of all sorts
All stars
Most relevant
Absolutely incredible. Written, read and performed by the author, just perfectly. Cannot wait for more.

Incredible.

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Splendid book, well worth the wait. All the events and turns of the book are so wonderfully unpredictable. The imagery is rich, there is a poetry to the way it is written without any pretension. Fantastic

I laughed and wept

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Loved the story and the narration was fantastic and really drew me into the story

The relationship between the characters

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I liked all aspects of this book a worthy success to its previous books. Great narration

Very enjoyable followip

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This book was a lot more character-focused than plot-focused, especially in the first two-thirds. However, once we reached the climax, I was on the edge of my seat. I love how well Buehlman writes climaxes. They’re epic, thematically layered, emotional, and highlight the characters’ arcs in his books, especially this one, which was mesmerising, to say the least.

The world-building was truly jaw-dropping. I was lulled into this tantalising tale because of how intriguing the world was and how beautiful and tragic (and real) it all felt. I especially loved Kinch and Galva’s relationship in this book. It truly was the beating heart of the story. Honestly, they really needed to learn about each other and come to trust and love each other before they could ever truly work together, and this book certainly brings them close enough for me to honestly consider them family to each other.

There were so many shocking moments throughout this book, and I certainly didn’t expect the story to take the turns it did. I mean, they ended up becoming slaves?! I would never have guessed that, nor would I have expected the futuristic half-giant city with its steampunk ships that can practically drop nukes. I loved how Kinch changed enough as a character to realise that bringing that technology to Manreach would cause an untold amount of harm. After all he’s seen and done (yes, mass murder), he definitely wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he were to introduce this hell to the world.

Regardless, this book was really good from a character and world-building standpoint. Honestly, once the goblin ambassadors entered the picture, the story became really tense and shifted into a higher gear, never slowing down. There were just brilliant story moments, twists, and lovely character moments that either left you in tears, shocked, awed, or cheering. It was all quite exciting.

Also that ending leading right into Daughters War book is just Chef’s Kiss… congrats Buehlman and his lovely team for bringing this awe-inspiring series into fruition.

Otherworldly, tragic and beautiful

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