Following right along from my last review of Book 3, Raven's Ladder, we now come to the conclusion of this series. At the end of the final book I have come to find myself somewhat perplexed by where the story went. But first, a summary. King Cal-raven wanders alone after escaping Cent Regus, and meets a series of companions and would-be enemies. Meanwhile, the ale boy leads a troupe of likewise escaped slaves along a vast network of underground rivers, and intrigues continue back at Bel Amica where most of Abascar's people remain.
Chased by deadly Deathweed and viscorclaws, Cal-raven continues to seek a new home for his people. Does he succeed or not? Perhaps I'm a bit dense, but I couldn't tell for certain, not even after the epilogue.
It was interesting to observe the changes in some characters: those we might have thought were good guys, aren't necessarily, and vice versa. A good illustration of the fickleness of people, but surprising nonetheless. I also enjoyed seeing more of the Northchildren in this one, previously only rumours, but here they actually speak. However, I was as stunned as Cal-raven, and nearly as disappointed, to discover what lay behind the Keeper myth - though I'm the first to admit I may have understood it wrong.
The ale boy is, as ever, a calm presence throughout the tale, and the mysterious glassmaker Milora has a secret she doesn't even realise: these are the redeeming factors for me in a plot that ended without resolution on several fronts.
But perhaps it was intended that way. Ambiguity is not always a thing to be shied away from, is it? Even if more questions remain now than at the end of the first book, they are the kind of questions that lend themselves to flights of imagination and what-if adventures of our own.
The writing is certainly as beautiful and brilliant as ever, worth reading for the colours in the turn of phrase, the surprise juxtapositions, the ever-flowing style and decadent vocabulary. There are many gorgeous scenes, haunting, twisted, gut-wrenching.
I like reading Overstreet's work just because his writing is so beautiful! This was a book that needed to be read slower than I did. I am going to go back and re-read it.
ReplyDeleteSlower! Absolutely right, Chris. Except every time I had to put it down, I had trouble re-orienting myself to which character's storyline we were in. But otherwise, I agree. Lots, lots, lots to think about in this one.
ReplyDeleteBecky