I enjoyed this better than the second book but the first was my favourite.
This just felt like a slow build-up to the inevitable final confrontation - which was then over . ( )

Volume 3 of the trilogy deals with the final confrontation, not only with the Fire Queen Zorah, but with the might of the tyrannical Silean empire who ravage what is left of the land after Zorah withdraws from any interest in her people whatsoever. Always self-absorbed she now cares only about confronting the emerging young Queens who each have a gift aligned with one aspect of Oran magic - fire, earth, air - and now - water. The final young woman is being sought as the story opens, Lirrel, the air Queen, and two companions travelling to the islands to find her.

Meanwhile, the evil regent who is - unbeknown to anyone else - part Oran through his great grandmother and therefore gifted with magic also - continues to plot to become a power in the land but he has turned his attention from Zorah whose fire magic he craved, and Jobber the young Queen in the wings, to a fixation on the water element queen, although it is not really explained why - I can't remember from an earlier book if his own gift is that of water (although he has been stealing others by drinking the blood of gifted children). And the resistence against the tyranny of both Zorah and the Sileans is growing beneath the weight of the deprivations and injustice, and the awareness that with Zorah's manipulation of Oran's magic things are starting to come apart and the very existence of Oran is at stake.

I enjoyed this volume more than volume 2 although not as much as the opening segment of the trilogy. One thing that detracted from my full enjoyment is that I have found Lirrel an increasingly irritating character with her somewhat hypocritical espousal of non violence - whereby those around her are forced to commit violence themselves in order to defend her against enemies. There is quite an emphasis on her character in this final book. It is also a shame that the magical people of the sea - the Namire - have such a small role to play since they are no sooner introduced than they are all exterminated.

There are some real tour de force descriptions of the literal unravelling of the substance of Oran and of various fight scenes, but some other aspects were a little irritating. For example, Kai, one of the chief characters of book 1, who also had quite a role in book 2, is relegated to a small though important couple of cameo appearances, and we don't see her again after her major final appearance when she avenges not only Lirrel but all the slain children claimed by the regent , not even in the final scene of city life where she and her sidekick Slipper might be expected to make a token appearance. Her sidelining seems to be due to the amount of book space spent on the new head of the Silean army whose strange appearance and ruthlessness is dwelt on and yet who has a rather damp squib exit - and what was that business about him slipping and gashing his leg, which led to absolutely noting? The plot role he performs could have been handled without having to have such a focus on him at the expense of further developing the situation back in the city through the eyes of Kai and her lieutenant.

The final conflict between Jobber and Zorah also seemed to be over too soon, given that the whole of three books had been leading up to it, and I was also not pleased that one of my favourite characters in the series was yet one more in the huge number of characters killed off. Realistic I suppose and yet this was one of the more memorable characters and the body count in this story is really quite alarming. So although I liked this book more than the middle volume I would rate it at 3.5 stars which given Goodreads system has to be rounded down rather than up given that I can't give it the 4 stars that book 1, more enjoyable, earned. ( )

Een mooi einde, bitterzoet. ( )

Queen's Quarter Knot of 4 elements holding chaos at bay.
[read in 2000's] ( )

A satisfying end to the trilogy. ( )