loaned to Mary Moga

What does it mean, really, to be bad at pacing? Okay, so if you did a timeline of the events in this novel, there would be a lot of traveling before anything much happened, and some big events don’t have the narrative importance they seem to merit, and many major plot events clump at the end. But (1) if you’re on book 4 of Monette’s series and you weren’t comfortable with that, I’m not sure why you read a thousand-odd pages of her work, and (2) I didn’t care, because I was having such a fine time travelling with the characters. Felix and Mildmay are actually struggling to be better men, and largely succeeding, and there are new characters I liked as well. I understand that there’s no fifth book, but Felix and Midmay are in a satisfactory place at the end, despite the many unanswered questions I have about Monette’s world of gods, magical theory, and lost cities. ( )

Exiled in the last (third) book, the wizard Felix and his long-suffering half-brother, former thief and assassin, Mildmay, travel to the distant land of Corambis where Felix must submit himself to the will of a council of wizards. Corambis has been in the midst of a civil war, the abrupt ending of which seems to have heralded the awakening of various strange and deadly mechanisms.

A new character, Kay Brightmore, Margrave of Rothmarlin, was at the center of the fighting for the freedom of his lands from the rule of the Corambins. In an act of desperation, he and the leadership of the rebellion sought to awaken the powers of the mechanism of Summerdown, to disastrous effect.

Corambis is so far from Felix and Mildmay's city of Melusine, that much knowledge has never spanned the distance. Felix has some idea of the powers at work and has the ability to safeguard the world from them, but he's hobbled by the will of the council.

In the meantime, the brothers need to sort out their relationship and see if they will be able to forge a new life in this strange land. They cross paths with Kay and with many other characters along the way.

All the characters are well-drawn and fascinating, and the land of Corambis, with its technology (trains!) and differing views of magic, is also worthy of exploration. This forth and final book in the Doctrine of the Labyrinth series (beginning with _Melusine_--the books are best read in order) makes for a satisfying conclusion. ( )

Summary: Exiled from Melusine, Felix and Mildmay must now make their way to the Convocation of Corambis, a group of wizards in a far north country, to have them pass judgment on Felix’s crimes. As Felix and Mildmay struggle to make new lives for themselves, a rebel margrave named Kay fights against Corambis to win freedom for his country.

Review: I thought I would go crazy if I didn’t get to see the end of the Doctrine of Labyrinths. Now that I’m done reading the last book, I have to say that it’s been a long, thoroughly enjoyable ride. Corambis does not disappoint. By taking Felix and Mildmay away from Melusine and the Mirador, it strips the series back to its basics: Felix and Mildmay, their internal struggles, and their dysfunctional relationship. These are the bits that I like best. It was satisfying to see Felix and Mildmay interact on a regular basis, something I had sort of missed in The Mirador.

Mildmay, oh Mildmay. What can I say about you that I have not said in other reviews? I could read a book about you herding llamas all day.

Fortunately Sarah Monette gives you a better plot than that. I liked the slow, almost domestic, themes that occupied the first part of Corambis as Felix and Mildmay make their way to Corambis and then try to put their lives together. I like seeing how they worry about money, their future, and their past. I also liked Kay, which surprised me. I’d thought the addition of a new POV character in the last book of the series would only detract from what I was there for, but I was wrong. I looked forward to reading about Kay as much as I did Felix and Mildmay.

If I do have one complaint it’s that the engine of Summerdown, which was so intriguing at the beginning, doesn’t become a big part of the story until the last few chapters, and by then it feels rushed. I would have liked to have seen more of that.

Conclusion: A worthy, enthralling end to one of my favourite series. ( )

http://lonelymountain.net/books/apr09... ( )