A perfectly fine end to a one-of-a-kind series...but...

I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking this – read it yourself and let me know – but for a series of that based itself on the premise of life in a dark, difficult world (where not even magic can buy happiness), this series ended a little too neatly. Several times near the end, I began to realize that everyone was going to get what they wanted. It felt Twilight-y: ignore all the difficulties and open threads, kids, because it will all work out in the end!

There's nothing wrong with that kind of sweetness, of course – not in principle, anyway. But in this other-Earth, where the real world ends up being more difficult than childhood dreams, it gets in the way.

Interestingly, however, the "homage-to-real-life" themes of this book create their own problem. Chief of these: if we assume that Quentin and his friends are the good guys, who is the villain? In the first book, it was clear that Martin Chatwin played the role. After that? Not sure. Was it Ember and Umber? Reynard the Fox? The mysterious couple who possessed Rupert Chatwin's relics? Other miscellaneous old gods? None of them are set up to be the true enemy. Mayble life just isn't that simple.

Still, satisfying to see this story to its conclusion.