I have a sense that I might have appreciated this book more if I remembered anything about the previous two (other than that Quentin had a tendency to annoy me and Fillory was based on Narnia).
I suppose I can't fault the book for failing to recap 2 previous books for me.
Grossman does a good job with the book - Quentin evolves as a character and a person, the Last Battle rewriting is handled even better than the original. I think it would have been a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy if I remembered the rest of the trilogy.
Although I do take exception to his handling of the niffin. It's a bit too close to paternalism and damseling for my tastes. Still, it was a good book and a good series. I should reread it one of these days...