The Last Mortal Bond: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Book III

3.75-4-4.25-4.5.. Somewhere in there... my pendulum of a rating swings..

Like many books it seems I am left with mixed feelings. The first 15-20% of the book I kept wanting more actors. Such a large landscape, such a large body of potential people and I felt trapped by the limited cast. It seemed like there could have been more potential-energy (vs the large focused amount of kinetic energy) in the world to call upon. I was also missing some of the prior cast.

Which many souls did come into play and the pace quickened, my heart quickened, things go positive, things go way awry--in the way they always do. Then it was basically over.. even with an epilogue I feel elements are missing.

I say this all on the dividing line. On one side the story had merit, the characters sought a way to conclude their tales and they did. With that and their general outcomes I can be happy. Yay! Even in death contributions were had by all.

What itches at my scalp is a world of gods with only two players, with ancient emotionless Cesstrium which there are only two left, with crazy ass leeches--again mainly only two spoken of, and the two Kettral.. but this is a world, shouldn't there be more interactions? Shouldn't there have been more interplay between the history of gods and their futures? In a world where leeches are born, we only really see two and two ancient ones? Doesn't that make it feel like a diorama instead of a world?

I saw a spotlight of a universe and the falloff was great and it will rub at my ever deep well of a mind for some time to come. This, however, was still greatly anecdotal to the story finding a conclusion and not being strung out with hollow books in between. For that I am grateful. Enjoy the book for what it is and maybe your mind and mine might ruminate on what could have been later. ;)