Complicated grief takes center stage in this cathartic, character-driven fantasy novel.

Uileac Korviridi can never forget his parents, killed at their family farm while he hid from savage soldiers. He strives to honor their names in his every action, whether that is protecting his little sister Cerie or avenging their deaths as a cavalryman.

Which is exactly why he can't fathom that his husband, infantryman Orrinir Relickim, could delight at the news that his estranged father is dying.

Horrified at the idea of abandoning a blood relative, Uileac pushes Orrinir to make peace with his parents, only to be rebuffed in vicious terms. He struggles to reconcile this image of a vengeful son - one who could even pull a sword on him - with the spouse he promised to love in this life and beyond.

What Uileac can't understand are the terrible ordeals Orrinir suffered at his father's hand. These painful memories are revealed only in snatches, as if the stories themselves were beaten beyond recognition. Abandoned at age six to become a child soldier, Orrinir mourns not just the loss of a father but of a better past.

With heartbreaking expositions of grief, loss, and trauma, Funeral of Hopes examines the difficulties domestic violence survivors face when confronted with the abuser's death. Delicate prose highlights these complicated feelings in a sensitive yet stirring portrait of one son's pain. This third novel in the Eirenic Verses series features more High Poetry, the native magic system, as well as a deeper sense of place.

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