Ahoy there me mateys!  Minor spoilers ahead. This was an immensely enjoyable ending to the trilogy.  Helena is back to finish the story of the decline of the empire.  The book picks up where the second book ended.  Where the first two books had more mystery elements to them, this went in a different direction with more action and horror.

I basically gobbled this up in one day.  The major issue I had with this novel is mostly a me problem.  I didn't love the fighting taking place on the spiritual plane and felt those sections were the least interesting.  There were also a lot of questions about the spiritual realm that really don't get dealt with much.  Because the action is seen through the lens of Helena's perspective, this works but I personally could have done without a lot of it.  I am in the minority in this though.

While I enjoyed the novel, the climax and how the empire ultimately ended absolutely delighted me.  It brought me overall score up in the end.  I loved the end battle and how difficult it was to fight Claver's army.  I loved how the issue of Claver was resolved.  I loved more monster dog.  I loved Justice Konrad Vonvalt's actions after the empire ends.  I loved the insight into what happens to the other members of Vonvalt's party.  I can't say for sure whether the dissolution of the Empire is good overall or not.  Life goes on regardless.  It has been a while since the ending of a series was just so satisfying.  I think I would reread this series someday to see the difference now that I know the conclusion.

If ye haven't picked up this series, I highly recommend it.  Excellent characters, good world building, and lovely writing.  Arrrr!