The Triumphant

In the wake of their victorious fight to win back the Ludus Achillea, Fallon and her gladiatrix sisters have become the toast of the Republic. However, as a consequence of his actions during the Ludus uprising, Fallon’s love Cai has been stripped of his Decurion rank and cast down to serve as one of Caesar’s gladiators.

Amid fighting for Cai’s freedom, Fallon soon learns that Caesar’s enemies are plotting against him and planning to get revenge on his fearsome gladiatrices. When Caesar is murdered by these conspirators, Fallon and the girls lose any sort of protection they once had. Fallon also realizes that the foreign queen Cleopatra is now in grave danger.

Fallon rallies her war band and Cai’s friends to get Cleopatra out of the city, and the group heads to the safety of Cleo’s homeland, Alexandria, Egypt. Once there, the gladiatrices are promised a place of honor in the queen’s elite guard, but is that what any of them really want? 

The Triumphant begins with Julius Caesar’s death, giving readers a glimpse of Rome in chaos. Fallon and her warrior sisters help Cleopatra flee Rome and return to Alexandria, Egypt. Along the way, several of Fallon’s companions die, and Fallon blames herself for their death. While each death is a terrible loss, Fallon learns that her guilt is misplaced for several reasons. First, Fallon’s fellow warriors chose to stay in Rome or travel to Egypt. In addition, only one person can be blamed for another’s death—the person who killed them. In The Triumphant, Fallon mourns the death of her friends, but death is portrayed as another part of life. Cleopatra tells Fallon, “Caesar once told me that he didn’t understand those who feared death. It will come when it comes, he said. To everyone. Even to him.” 

Fallon and her warrior sisters take an epic journey from the corrupt Roman Republic to the wonder of the ancient world: Alexandria, Egypt. While on this journey, Fallon isn’t the only strong woman who shines. Fallon’s friend Elka plays a more significant role in the story, allowing readers to appreciate Elka’s strength and loyalty to Fallon. Cleopatra also has a starring role that highlights the belief that Cleopatra was the daughter of gods and, as such, she possessed both brains and bravery. In the end, The Triumphant shows that women are capable of choosing their own path. However, Cleopatra says, “Destiny is not something that is given. It’s something you prove yourself worthy of taking.” 

Anyone who enjoys fast-paced stories full of action and political intrigue will enjoy The Valiant Series. Fallon’s determination to give her sister warriors freedom is admirable. Caesar and Cleopatra give the story a historical element and added intrigue. Each installment of The Valiant Series highlights the importance of choosing your own destiny. If you’re ready to take another epic adventure, read A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas and the Dust Lands Series by Moira Young. 

Sexual Content  

• A slave was sold to a brothel.  
• Fallon goes to visit Cai, who is locked in a cell. When he is allowed out, Fallon kisses him. “I reached up to pull his bruised, beautiful face gently down toward mine. It was strange, being able to tangle my fingers in Cai’s hair. . . [his lips were] firm and soft at once, pressed hungrily against mine as if we could make up all the lost months. . .” 
• One night, Cai and Fallon were keeping watch for trouble when “Cai’s head dipped beneath mine as his mouth moved from my wrist to the inside of my elbow. . . My fingers traced up the twin columns of muscle along his spine until I reached the collar of his tunic, and I could slip my hand underneath. . .” They are interrupted before things can go further. The scene is described over two and a half pages. 

Violence  

• Cai is sent to be a gladiator. During his first fight, Cai’s “sica had still hit the mark early on and more than once. The man’s shield-arm shoulder and biceps were running blood from several long, shallow cuts. . . As Cai scrambled past his adversary, the points of his curved blades tagged the murmillo again—this time on the back of his legs, below his armored kilt. Blood splashed from the wound.” 
• After Cai beats the murmillo, a group of gladiators surround him. One man steps up to help Cai. Cai and his ally “rushed forward, swords cutting the air before them, flashing sunlight like fire. . . Together, they swept through the line of their opponents, and the man unlucky enough to find himself at the center of that line dropped to the ground. . . bleeding from wounds on both sides of his body.”  
• During the battle, “Cai’s left blade caught one of the attackers on the side of his neck. The ground gasped. . . as the man dropped to the ground. Blood sputtered in a fountain from between his fingers as he clutched at his throat. . . and then he was still.” The scene is described over six pages. One man dies, and others are seriously wounded.  
• Fallon hears a story of a group that is “burning whole villages” and “killing most of the men and carrying off the women.”  
• Other members of the Roman senate stab Caesar. Afterwards, “Caesar reached out, grasping handfuls of air. . . and then a group of men charged him like a pack of jackals on a wounded lion. . . blood flew, splattering the gleaming marble columns of the theatre portico.” The murder is described over a page.  
• A gladiatrix was injured and later drowned herself. 
• One of Fallon’s companions, Charon, is shot with an arrow. His “face was rigid with pain. He had one hand pressed to his flank—blood seeping between his fingers. . .” Fallon throws a knife and “was rewarded with a grunt of pain.” The attacker flees. Later, Charon dies from his wound.  
• Fallon and her companions are traveling in a caravan when a man on a horse grabs someone. “[One of the gladiatrices] lurched to her feet and smashed the rider over the head with the short curved bow she carried, wielding it like a club. The man tumbled instantly from the back of his horse, dead or unconscious. . .”  
• Another rider grabbed the gladiatrix Vorya. “He clutched at her tunic as Vorya raised her sword to strike, but she couldn’t get any solid footing. . . She fell forward, and there was nothing to stop her. . . Nothing but the rider’s blade, thrust to the hilt between Vorya’s ribs.” 
• Nephele, Vorya’s companion, “lunged for the man who’d killed Vorya and, with a cry of pure rage, thrust her dagger straight through his eye. The man screamed and fell, arms and legs bent and twisting.”  
• While being attacked, someone began shooting arrows at Fallon. “The first missed. The second laid a fiery kiss along the top of my shoulder, the razor-sharp point slicing through the fabric. . . carving a searing gash in my flesh.” The attack is described over seven pages, and several people die. 
• After being chased by an enemy, Cleopatra says, “Then tell your dark god when you meet him that it was I who sent you to his realm.” Then she slit his throat “from ear to ear.”  
• A woman named Tanis was trying to kill Cleopatra. Fallon shadows Tanis, waiting for the right time to kill her. Tanis “pulled the bowstring taunt beside her ear. And I hurled myself at her, hitting her with my shoulder, hard in the center of her back.” The two women fall off the roof, and Fallon “delivered a swift kick to her ribs . . . I hauled her to her feet and drove my fist into her face. Her head snapped back, and blood flew in a thin arc from her mouth.” Fallon calms down and lets Tanis escape. 
• While Fallon is in a temple, she sees a reflection of a blade descending. “I heard the scuff of a sandal and spun around in time to see the jackal god Anubis himself swinging a sword at my head. . . He had the Aegyptian god of the dead with him!” The villain lifted a “bloodstained blade high above me. . . I lunged upward, the Tartarus key clutched in my fist like a dagger. And I drove it straight through his eye. . . [The villain] clutched weakly for the key, jutting obscenely out from his eye socket before toppling backward and hitting the surface of the reflection pool.” He sinks to the bottom of the pool, dead. 
• Another man moves toward Fallon. The villain’s “second stop faltered. And as a sword’s point seemed to suddenly sprout like a flower from the center of his naked chest, he fell to his knees in front of me.” Cai killed the man to save Fallon. The scene is described over nine pages. 
• In the final battle, Fallon’s friends and her father’s warriors battle the Romans. A Roman, Yoreth, attacks Fallon with a spear. “His first thrust tagged my thigh. . . a long, shallow cut. . .I blocked the next blow with my shield. . . he lunged forward with a long dagger drawn from his belt.” 
• To save Fallon, someone shoots Yoreth with an arrow. Fallon “recoiled as he gagged once, a horrid, harrowing sound, and blood poured from his mouth.” 
• Fallon attacks a warrior. “I threw my sword at him. It spun between his neck and shoulder. . . enough to make him scream and drop his own sword.” 
• When a Roman threatens Fallon’s father, she “thrust my sword up under the polished black scales of his pristine ceremonial armor, stabbing him through the heart while he ranted.” The man and many others die. The final battle is described over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol  

• The adults often drink wine. Fallon goes to the gravesite of a dead gladiatrix. She had beer and “two cups. . . and poured out two measures of good dark Briton beer.” Fallon drinks her beer and “poured half of Nyx’s measure out onto her grave.”  
• Fallon remembers when she drank wine spiked with mandrake. 
• Fallon goes to a party where many are drunk.  
• After Cleopatra discovers Ceasar has been killed, she is given “two measures” of wine.  
• Fallon’s sister is given “potions to ease the searing headaches that made even the dimmest light unbearable.” Later, she is given “poppy draughts.”  

Language  

• Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes ass, bastard, bitch, and damn.
• “Ye gods,” “Jupiter’s beard,” and “Morrigan’s teeth” are each used as exclamations once.  
• Some people call Cleopatra an “Aegyptina whore.”  

Supernatural 

• A soothsayer warns of Caesar’s demise. She says, “Mars comes for you, great lord!”  
• According to legend, Kassandra was a soothsayer. “Only she was cursed by the gods so that no one ever believed her. She could see the future but remained powerless to change it.”  
• Fallon goes to the temple of Sekhmet to mediate. She has a vision of Julius Caesar, who is dead. They have a three-page discussion on why Caesar invaded Fallon’s island.  

Spiritual Content  

• Fallon often refers to Morrigan, the goddess she worships. For example, Fallon believes Morrigan “had in her wisdom seen fit to send me so far from home to seek my density.” 
• Fallon thinks about the Roman gods. “I knew the Romans worshipped virtually the same pantheon, only with different names. Were they interchangeable? The divine beings who, in spite of their own wars and ruins and tangled relationships, did their best to guide us mortals through our muddled and messy lives?” The passage continues for half a page.  
• Some people believed that Caesar was a god. Likewise, some believe Cleopatra is the daughter of a god. Cleopatra said, “I’m the daughter of the gods. Isis and Osiris protect me.”  
• A group worships the god Dis. After Caesar is killed, one man dips a sword in Caesar’s blood. It is implied that the man eats the blood.  
• As Fallon and her companions try to get Cleopatra back to Egypt, Fallon is thankful that she is joined by others who know how to fight. “Even as I prayed to the Morrigan that we would have no opportunity to call upon those skills.” 
• Some believe that earthquakes happen “when Hades gets angry.” 
• While being pursued by an attacker, Fallon prays, “Hear me, my goddess. . . Help me save my friends. Send me your strength. . . Send me help! Take my blood, take anything you want from me . . . Raven of Battles. . . help me!” 
• After the above prayer, Fallon’s friend, Hestia, is murdered. Fallon wonders, “Was Hestia’s sacrifice part of the price the Morrigan demanded of my prayer?” 
• While trying to protect Cleopatra, Fallon “sent up silent prayers to the Morrigan and Minerva and Sekhmet that we could just get her aboard a ship without incident.”  
• The Varnini tribe believes that after a person dies, they go to “drink the All-Father’s finest mead in his hall of heroes.” 
  
• Fallon’s sister tells her, “The gods give and take life as it pleases them.” 
• When Fallon returns to her home, she buries the ashes of a dead friend. Then she asks the Morrigan, “Is it enough? Will it ever be enough? Was Sorcha not even enough for you? Or will you take my friends and my father too?” The prayer is a half-page long.