Hmm. This was extremley hard to rate. This is the final book in a series I have been reading on and off since school. I am very sentimental about these books and even now, over a decade after reading the first novel, I feel a strong sense of loyalty and fondness for these characters.

Unfortunately the four stars I gave to this novel are more of a representation of this loyalty than a reflection of the quality of the book.

The novel continued its predecessor's habit of focusing on the new batch of characters rather than our old favourites. Rothen for example doesn't appear in any meaningful capacity until the final quarter of the novel. My favourite character Dannyl is heavily featured but just like in the last book, he contributes very little value. We spend a lot of time focusing on Lorkin and Lila's relationships but I found it very hard to care about either character ( especially Lorkin who has no real personality).

The plot is meandering which is fine for me, as I enjoy spending time with these characters, but I imagine many other readers would be bored.

Over 6 books Trudi Canavan has crafted a very intriguing world, but I sadly feel she could do more with it. I would happily read another 6 books in this world with these characters, but I would urge Canavan to lower the scale. Separating her characters geographically for the entire trilogy negatively impacted the novels Give us more Rothen/ Sonea/ Dannyl interactions. Sonea didn't meet with Cery once in this whole book which felt like a betrayal to both characters. These characters are why the original novels are so popular and I would recommend she leans on them more in future.

This is probably the most ranty 4 star review I will ever write!