bit of a soft conclusion to the series, although the exploration of air magic was certainly fascinating, and the evolution of Norina's character over time is one of the strongest throughlines of the whole series. taken as a set, i loved this series, with the caveat that it's not the kind of thing you can just dip into, it's important to read it in order as otherwise you'd miss too much. the nature of the four elements was very clearly thought through and set out; in fact, once you've read the whole series, you can check your own elemental makeup with this nifty little quiz on the author's home page: http://lauriejmarks.com/shaftal/quiz.html. ( )

This book is a direct continuation of Water Logic - I recommend reading them in sequence. A fitting end to the series. ( )

This series were deeply frustrating to me. After a year of picking the first book up and putting it down over and over again, I'm giving up. This is entirely a me issue, so I won't be giving the book a star rating.

I think I could have liked it except for two things:
1) I've read enough stories about fantasy wars to last two lifetimes. The worldbuilding and magic system might have saved it, if I could have gotten far enough to where any of that was explained.
2) The storytelling felt sort of distant. Thematically appropriate, I guess.

Madness and magic are tightly coupled in the world of Shaftal. Quite enjoyed this. ( )

I didnt realize it was part of a series when I requested it but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me a while to get to it because I was in the middle of moving to another state but once I did I couldn't put it down. ( )