With this book Katharine Kerr wraps up the Westlands cycle. It is a fairly decent final book, bringing a number of ongoing stories together and finishing things decently. With that said, it felt a little soulless to me - with her first four books, Kerr made the characters come alive and I had a lot of interest in their doings. Gradually I am losing interest in Rhodry and co.

In this novel we head back in time for a time, and that section was by far the most gripping. We meet a previous incarnation of Raena, the raven-woman, known in those times as Lady Mallona. It is no accident that my favourite part of the book coincides with us reading about Jill and Rhodry while they rode the long road as silver daggers. I far preferred the two characters at that point.

Arsozah is fun to read about - the dragon seems to be the only character at this point that Kerr seems to have fun writing about.

So an almost anti-climatic end to the Westlands cycle. Kerr has continued writing about Rhodry (or Rori Dragon-friend, as he should also be known as now) but I find myself losing interest in where she can take the Deverry world. ( )

this one was really well-organized, and a lot of stuff happened, including some big character deaths and a lot of plot wrapup. and the reader gets to know some of the more enigmatic characters a whole lot better, and see more of the Grand Design. but i dunno, seemed a bit going-thru-the-motions to me: not sure if it was writer or reader fatigue that was at fault, just saying. ( )