A good concluding volume. Although some passages grind a bit - there are several portions at the beginning of the book where the actors stand and speechify at each other, and one can almost see the scenery shaking as it's shifted into place for the next scene - once the story gets going, the reader is swept up in it. Later on we get some of that soul-searching that fantasy heroes so often subject us to, but Arden doesn't dwell on it as some other authors do. The writing is mainly of the high quality that we have come to expect.