Pretty stunning conclusion to the series. The opening is great, as is the ending, but sadly it all bogs down a bit in the middle. It is worth staying with though, as everything is brought to a great finish.

Jory has pulled the arrow from the cup, halting the war between Robin Hood and the Knights of the Round Table. He's been acclaimed Pendragon, the returned avatar of King Arthur himself, even if Jory personally still isn't sure that the devices are anything but a collective delusion. And so the Great Britain (minus Scotland which declares independence from these 'southern stories') enters a golden age. Public spending is redirected to where it will help the most people and equality and diversity and tolerance flourish bringing wealth and advances in all areas. Not everything is rosy of course, with the upswell of belief in general more rogue devices surface, providing challenges for the latest Knights, and the Chapel would very much prefer to get back to their old ways rather than supporting a King however admirable his principles. Meanwhile Jory himself at least tries to stay aware of his devices' stories and forswears all women to avoid fathering a Modred of his demise, this somewhat straitlaced course of action is helped by him still pining for Mallory, whom hasn't been seen since their falling out prior to the Kingship.

Setting all this up is quite enjoyable to read, there's a lot of fun in HighKings, how Jory deals with the existing royal family etc (although the author makes clear it's all fictitious, I'm sure he won't be invited to the Palace any time soon),.

TBC ( )