I absolutely loved the first two books, and looked forward to this one the way I looked forward to Christmas as a kid. Sadly, I was greatly disappointed, as it fell flat in a way the first two didn't. I also remember when it was first suggested that there would be five books in the series, not three, which I think might have been better because I felt that the Raffe/Penryn dynamic/tension was rushed to a conclusion that I just couldn't really get behind. Not the way I rooted for them in books one and two, at any rate. The action was still high, but we were left with a bunch of what I felt were unanswered questions still (such as Gabriel and his death, unless I royally missed something) and just a total lack luster resolution. I still own the books and will keep them, but this was probably one of my most disappointing reads.