I am sad.. sad that I typed a long review and it's all gone due to a crash.. So.. here I am again..



When the end is coming you know there is going to be a lot of energy expressed. This did not disappoint. I went through many emotions--laughing, smiling, shock, outrage, teary eyed and more.

Gwynne's final push through the conflict of the banished lands is done with great remark. The way one chapter and view dovetails to another, well tuned, pivots without loss of momentum. All deftly handled which lets you as a reader keep a pace that will disturb you--in the speed at which you will want to consume this final tome.

There are only a few books I've read which at the end of a chapter I am stunned. The world reverberates as shock passes through me, eyes darkening with the pulse of blood and stillness as the last word is read. Damn you! Beautifully sad, beautifully exciting. This is a tumultuous clash that will leave you riveted.

I liked it. The build up, crescendo, and culmination are all well executed. I have a fondness for the characters and a curiousity on how their world continues to spin but really I'm happy with where they are going. Somehow knowing at least through their lifetimes they should be smiling.

The few things that got caught in my sieve were the treasures, the animals, and missing giants.

The cup and cauldron both have special imbued powers. Healing, health, portal, etc. With every touch of another artifact--voices whisper, but that's all. Knife, axe, spear, torc, necklace--one would surmise that wearing or wielding one would have had its own imbued gift. Speed, stamina, sight, invulnerability.. Something, anything comes to mind, but they all are dormant. Why?

There were only two speaking crows--why? In a world rife with old magic how are only 2 the ones that were seen here? When Nemain summoned her horde of crows--one would have thought there'd be more. Or more of any type of this relationship. I often wondered why no one asked Craf if he knew others that still spoke. It gave Craf a great place at the table, but it felt lonely in the position to me.

Halvor is met, so so so very briefly. I wonder was there anything left on the cutting floor? (not literally but pun is there..) For someone so often mentioned in the history his sudden appearance and removal seemed trivialized. I know where the focus was meant to be but still, some thunder got stolen here. Maybe Alben could have had a chat, or a perspective set of chapters from Halvor's view like the first book.

Anyhow, just some lint in the trap that I reflect upon. Enjoy the finale! I did. :D