Pre09:
Characters: Well of course I love the lead. I'm here for the later books right? The other people just don't seem as on it.
Plot: Just not there. Too much power being tossed about. Not as much a believable struggle.
Style: Cashing in on earlier success. Should have left it at first book. Gets high-handed and mushy. ( )

Restoration completes the Rai-Kirah trilogy and brings together Seyonne and Aleksander once more. Both of them disgraced and exiled from their own people, this arc of the story continues to develop their characters as they grow through adversity (misery builds character, after all! :) and ultimately discover and accept their destinies. A truly satisfying conclusion that is bittersweet only in the knowledge that it's the last book in the series.
As a side note, the novella "Unmasking" in Elemental Magic is a prequel of sorts, giving us a wonderful little glimpse into the lives of Seyonne's parents when they first meet. ( )

Plot: In an improvement over Revelation, we have an actual plot. Unfortunately, the action takes place in a small side plot, while the main storyline is about the central character's navel-gazing and angsting. The ending disappoints - too many of the promised and hinted-at solutions don't happen.

Characters: It's rare to find a central character elsewhere who manages to be this uninteresting. Far too much internal worrying, not nearly enough actual action. The side characters are left to carry the plot, but they get so little attention that they can't pull it off.

Plus: It's better than Revelation. More Aleksandr.

Minus: Two thirds of the story are occupied by an absolutely unappealing and boring character.

Summary: This is one of those series endings where you're grateful it's finally over. ( )

Restoration, Book Three of The Rai-Kirah proves to be a worthy conclusion to this momentous drama. Seyonne, the Ezzarian Warden of Souls, disgraced in his homeland now seeks his young son, abandoned by his mother at birth. His search brings him into contact with a band of outlaws working against Aleksander’s Empire, an Empire which itself is about to outlaw Aleksander.
Seyonne finds himself again aiding Aleksander, this time to resort him to his rightful place.
He struggles to understand the course of events and in the process he comes to learn much more about the demon world and the history of his people the Ezzarians, and nothing perhaps is as it seems. As Seyonne’s understanding grows so does his power, but this brings new dangers that will affect the demons and threaten him and the world of humans; Seyonne has to make difficult some decisions.
Restoration is a gripping conclusion to The Rai-Kirah trilogy where we follow Seyonne’s adventures in two separate worlds, and are constantly amazed at the imaginative outworking of events. It is a story full of drama, with numerous confrontations and battles involving magical powers, beset by subterfuge and betrayal, but where determination, compassion, love and loyalty overcome– not to be missed. ( )

I have very mixed feelings about this conclusion to the Rai-Kirah trilogy. Berg's prose is as well-crafted as ever, and I enjoyed the first half very much, but as soon as Seyonne meets the prisoner of Tyrrad Nor, it begins to drag.

Almost nothing went the way I expected it to; that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't think the author's choices were the most satisfying. I was puzzled by Seyonne's course of action, annoyed that it took him such an unconscionable amount of time to seek crucial information, and disappointed that he wasn't strong enough to offer Nyel the healing he planned (in fact, he didn't even really try). I was also saddened by the fate of the rai-kirah. Nor did I think that Alecsander achieved the glorious gods-touched future Seyonne envisioned for him.

The one small satisfaction is that Ysanne conveniently died, leaving Seyonne free to find a more worthy woman (although I still think it should have been Fiona). ( )