Finally! My review of the 4th and final book in the Pellinor series!! It’s taken me a loooong while to get around to writing this (I read the damn thing in December!) so let’s get into it!
In the first two books of this series we follow Maerad’s pov, and then for book three we follow Hem. In this last book we follow the both of them, with the pov changing every few chapters. Similarly to what I said in my review about The Crow, when I previously re-read these books I skipped out on Hem’s sections a lot. They just didn’t call to me when I was younger and I just wanted to get into Maerad’s story! This time around, of course, that was completely different and I revelled in Hem’s story! Because it had been so long since I had read his sections it was wonderful to see what was essentially a new pov in the story for me. It added so much dimension to the tale and really brings the whole book together.
To keep this as spoiler free as possible, the only explanation I will give for this book is that the two are coming together after time apart, the book follows their journey towards each other and also their journey once their are together which is the end point of the entire series. (right look I know that’s vague but do you want spoilers? No! Go check out the first 3 books and come back!)
The continuous development of the new characters we met with Hem in his story, as well as returning to characters we hadn’t seen since the first book, really rounded out this world and made it feel real. I am so emotionally invested within this world that every battle and every fight is tense, even though I know the outcome! Visiting old friends again is a wonderful way to round out the series and to suggest a direction of events for after what is shown in the books, and I think Croggon does this really well to a point where certain events are suggested but she leaves it open enough for you to come to your own conclusions.
As always the “academic” sections at the beginning and the end of this book are fantastic. I adore all that they add to the world without bogging down the text itself, and the context that they give you to read this tale within.
Is anyone surprised that I loved this reread? No! Now I just need to re-read the prequel and to finally get my butt in gear and read the eBook novella’s that came out a while ago!
Abi of Pellinor 