Rating: 
Summary: Series started Great, but Ends Poor!
Review: While I have given this book just 3 stars, the series as a whole probably deserves 4 stars.The Good (What has gone before)
The story was largely well done up until the last book. Kearney did a great in job building a fairly complex, gritty, largely low-fantasy world. There are many intriguing ideas in this series, some of which are obviously borrowed from medieval European history. Ironically, most fantasy writers all but ignore the subject of religion while creating their pseudo-medieval worlds, even though it is religion that gives real medieval history much of its flavor, both for good and for ill. Kearney, on the other hand, is very successful in integrating a religious atmosphere largely reminiscent of our own Middle-Ages. I found this to be fascinating plot device that worked well. The Ugly (Mostly this last book!)
This last book takes the wind out of the sales of what was shaping up to be a great fantasy series! Virtually all of the main characters that you have spent the entire series with are systematically killed off in the end. It's not that I have to have some sort of happy fairy-tale type of ending, but many of the characters are abruptly dispatched with hardly a reference. We don't even get to experience King Abeleyn's death, but instead are told of it after the fact. And while we are given slightly more detail about Hawkwood's ignoble passing, it just seemed somehow out of place and inappropriate for the story. I agree with a previous reviewer's assessment that Kearney seemed to be tired of writing. The story feels rushed and fragmented; it skips all over the place leaving many unanswered questions and unfinished plot lines. I also found the closing scene of the book/series to be somewhat cryptic. Instead of putting the book down at its conclusion, and having that sense of satisfaction that comes from finishing a good story, I was left scratching my balding head and trying to figure out what I had just read. Perhaps this is what Kearney was after, something that in the end would leave you puzzling over it. If so, he certainly achieves it. Conclusion:
If you have read the four previous books you will want to read this one. It does have its moments, for example, we finally get to see Murad get his due. But on the whole, I found this book to be a disappointing conclusion to a potentially great series.
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