A brilliant conclusion to a brilliant series. Whatever Bancroft's next project is, I'm already sold.

If you've already read the first three books, it feels silly to try and sell you on book 4. You're already compelled, and you should be, it's great. My one and only criticism is that I think the story continues a bit too many beats beyond the end. It's nothing terrible, but there's definitely a point where I went, "The end! Oh, wait, there's a few more chapters. Huh."

It's a common enough thing in the wrap-up of an epic. So common, that it'd be easier to list exceptions than series that did the same thing to some degree or another. In a series this full of unalloyed genius it's actually somewhat nice to see a bit of... alloy? Imperfection? It almost makes me feel like Bancroft could be some sort of human person, instead of the eloquent spirit being I typically imagine.

So, a 4 for the conclusion, but I still recommend this series to everyone I know. It's amazing, and the ending is amazing, and I loved it. It just didn't need those last few bits.