Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones with a splash of Chronicles of Narnia.
I absolutely LOVED this final book in the trilogy, it was absolutely everything the first two books didn't quite get right. So yes, book one I struggled to connect with the main character and in book two the switching between all the new characters was difficult for me, but with this book, I was invested from the get go and I loved every minute of it!
I think it takes a very special kind of writer who can still manage to pull of laugh out loud funny moments in the middle of an earth-shattering, world-crumblingly high-stakes epic battle between the forces of good and evil. Linda Ling didn't just manage that once, but twice in this book! Loved it.
Often, with multiple characters, like in Game of Thrones, I'll have my favorites and will skim through the other chapters. Not so in this one. I was invested in every single one! And I'm glad for how the author managed to keep me on my toes in ALL the interconnected storylines. There's a lot of complexity to this book and yet it's pulled off perfectly. The ending ties off every single plot point satisfactorily. I absolutely adored that!
Expect a smorgasbord of emotions. This book has it all. There some intense, nailbiting action moments where you have no idea how they're going to get out of the situation, hilarious situational humour, as well as some great funny lines, wonderful romantic moments, heated moments but nothing graphic, rivalries, friendships. It is, truly, an all-round wonderful ending to a fantastic series.
I almost forgot the magical creatures! How could I forget the amazing magical creatures?!!! There are flesh-eating unicorns (that get tamed by a bossy fairy), giants (friendly and not so much). I loved the reclusive dragons, called "Nobles" who turned out to be a bunch of nasty females who had some fun at the expense of a wyvern. The wyverns and their riders--AMAZING! And let's not forget the Lefearas, lizard men who can go invisible with their camouflage. All the creatures definitely gave me wonderful LotR and Chronicles of Narnia vibes.
The resolution of the issues between elves and fairies was truly wonderful! I adored every moment of Winyx's chapters detailing that, not to mention Thane's development into a living, breathing, feeling individual. So much fun. Casey's arc was also truly awesome and I loved the reveal about Falkryn. Faelyn and Khare remained steady as their arcs had been dealt with in previous books, but it was lovely to see them get things into place for the grand adventure, and Faelyn's solution to the problem with the giants was a lot of fun.
I'm sure you're wondering why I mentioned Game of Thrones... Well, there's politics galore--intrigue, plots, spies, assassins, attempted kidnappings, evil uncles, poison and more! And there's an army of the undead, but so much more gruesome than Martin's. I really loved how this author described the undead and focused on so many elements that often get overlooked with armies of wights.
To sum it all up, I'm glad I stuck with this series and I'm delighted to see how much the author has developed over the course of the three books. I sped through this book in just a few sittings, even though it's quite large. It was an absolute joy to read.
Read my review of Sundered, the first book in the series here.
Read my review of Forged, the second book in the series here.
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