Ouch! Argh! Oh, the pain!
P.L. you are killing me! This book, this ending. Where do I begin?
Stuart does something striking with his latest entry into The Drowned Kingdom Saga.
First, he switches up the view. He turns back the clock and gives us a deep new look into the lore of this world. He delves deeply into previously inaccessible insights. He imparts an understanding of the tableau of the present day. He does this through an intricately plotted narrative that is rife with amazing characters that have a huge impact on the whole story as we have come to know it.
It’s wonderful how he pulled it off. Stuart takes a big risk by presenting us with this view. A risk that is hard to talk about while worried over giving away hints and clues as to what a reader of the sixth book in a series is expecting. I don’t think I’m giving too much away though, to tell you that we don’t see Othrun for a very long time in this book. And that’s okay. Because those we are introduced to are so compelling, and so integral to the narrative, that I almost forgot Othrun existed.
Of course, we know Othrun has to come back eventually. When he does, boy do things happen. The last section of this book had me on the edge of my seat. As we’ve come to know, Stuart’s character spends a lot of time on introspective thoughts. Should I do this? Should I do that? Why me? Etc. This self-absorbed trait of the main character is then balanced perfectly with intense action that doesn’t let up. Stuart balances these two styles better than ever in this volume. As of this writing, I’m still out of breath over the ending. I honestly do not know where the final book is headed.
Stuart is playing with some heavy themes. One of those is the feelings of loss and how they affect a person. You can see the scaring of some of the characters by the way they lash out at others they care about and depend on. You can feel their pain at being inadequate to change fate and their inability to deal with it in a manner that’s anything less than self-destructive. There is also the perception of fate, and what the characters do to either thwart what they see as doom, or live up to what they see as destiny.
P.L., my friend, you cannot write the final book of this series fast enough. But that’s okay, as long as you make the next book as good as this one.
