Title: Seure the Tempered (The Out of True Series 3)
Publisher/Author: Rien Gray
Pages: 46pp
Content Warning: bondage, temperature play, forced orgasm, and knifeplay

“Seure, born with eyes like a scryer’s pool, was honor-bound to divine the impossible.”

Seure is a knight in service to King Theomacha of Afallennau. Each of the nine knights has a particular skill set, and Seuere is very very good with puzzles. Thus they are dispatched to investigate when people begin disappearing along the trade route between the Gorsedd Mountains and the coast at Gallos, only for the victims to return days later, confused, frightened, and unable to speak in detail of their experience. A geas has been placed upon them, and Seuere is determined to find out who is taking these people and why. Doing so will lead Seure to a secret and a treasure they could never have imagined ….

Given the current political climate, I only occasionally bother with social media. When I do, I try to stick to known spaces, such as author groups and lists. On one such rare visit to Bluesky, I stumbled across a post by Rien Gray advertising their Out of True series. The artwork caught my eye, but it was the description that hooked me: sapphic and nonbinary knights fighting and falling in love in a land modeled after Arthurian mythology.

Yes please.

I immediately hopped over to their site and downloaded the third book in the series, Seure the Tempered.

Have no fear: after reading this book, I will be going back to purchase the first two, and then will be purchasing every subsequent story until Gray has completed their fantastical cycle of love and adventure featuring King Theomacha and her nine devoted knights. (This series is begging for a beautifully illustrated omnibus edition courtesy of kickstarter or pledgebox.)

First, the setting. Gray packs a ridiculous amount of world building into so few pages. While they draw heavily on Arthurian mythology, there are notable differences. For example, there are no men. None. Every character in the story — even the King — is either female or nonbinary. The lush landscape, rich with magic and ancient secrets, is described in equally lush language. I felt like I was getting a masterclass in the sensuality of language by reading this book.

Secondly, Seure is an awesome character. We would describe them as autistic and asexual, but these words do not exist in Afallaneu; they simply are as they are, and they are accepted as such by their King and fellow knights. They love solving puzzles and making order in the world. They love mathematics and language. They love to use those skills in service to the King and people.

And then there’s Ganeida, a dark-skinned, Rubenesque sorceress of immense power and knowledge who is, nonetheless, trapped. Proud and dignified, she is the victim of a geas herself. She gladly — and desperately — accepts Seure’s offer of assistance … even if that means utterly surrendering herself to the knight. (Absolutely take that content warning seriously.)

Seuere the Tempered is an amazing fantasy romance filled with sympathetic, well-rounded characters; luxuriant world building; and mysteries that beg to be solved and ancient knowledge just waiting to be revealed. Highly recommended to fans of Joey W. Hill’s A Mermaid’s Kiss, Milla Vane’s A Gathering of Dragons series, The Kingmaker Chronicles by Amanda Bouchet, The Ether Chronicles and The Blades of the Rose by Zoe Archer, and Into Shadow by Morgan Daimler.

[Reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan.]