I was really really not expecting that ending, probably because the whole thing was built into this Dahl-like world where you know these things are completely insane and yet you believe them. None of it, even the ending, was intended to be taken terribly seriously, and sometimes that's a lot of fun.

I genuinely did not expect to be intrigued enough to pick up the next book, but I think I am. It was creepy and eerie and a little bit "Flowers in the Attic".

I don't care what the description says, there is nothing "triumphant" about this.

I felt obligated to try an "Oprah's book club" book. I'm a woman, so these books are supposed to speak to me, right? Books I feel "obligated" to read are funny things. They either turn out to be amazing or dreadful. Guess which one this was.

I'm not sure what kind of audience this book was written for. It it bears any resemblance to your life, it's going to depress you further. If it doesn't, it's just going to depress you, end of story.

The one-dimensional characters plodded through their lives, lifting their heads long enough for a crop of flashback sequences that made it clear that their lives had always been full of the kind of bleak everyday horrors that made them the bleak horrible people they became. The story limps on to a conclusion that is no real conclusion at all. It just kind of stops. There is this vague suggestion that things are going to be better now, but it's almost impossible to believe it after the rest of the novel.

Not one of my favorite from this universe, but not one of my least favorite, either.

The timeframe is a rather compelling one in terms of Valdemar history--just after The Last Herald Mage, but before most of the "main" story. It was interesting to see Vanyel just barely out of reach, and to see the process of forgetting the knowledge that is gone by the time the Arrows of the Queen series starts.

Mags' accent grated after about the halfway point, though I found him at least interesting. The plot crawled, possibly to allow for it to be five books instead of three. I've sometimes felt myself wishing a little more time was spent at the Collegium in previous books, but I think I may take that back now that I've seen what that can do to the pacing.

The ending did not feel terribly well-done. I was expecting more exposition than we got. Everything was wrapped up kind of suddenly and it all felt a bit out-of-the-blue.

I'll pick up the rest of the series, partly because it is Valdemar and those books are a type of comfort food for the soul and partly because I am intrigued by Mags' background and where they are going to go with his story arc. It might be nowhere, but it will be full of Companions and I know, in the end, the good guys will win. Sometimes that's all you need.

The storyline moved much faster than the first one, but the angst got turned up to eleven. I have a high tolerance for angst, particularly in a Mercedes Lackey book, and I will admit to thinking that Mags' reaction to things was not that over-the-top given what happened to him. He is forgiven.

But dear Lord, I will never ever forgive Lena and Bear. Ever. And I have this horrible feeling that I am supposed to, somehow. Their behavior towards someone they considered a friend was appallingly self-centered and nasty and hypocritical and genuinely reprehensible. I have never like Lena--she was tolerable, but pathetic. At best I felt faintly sorry for her. But Bear, Bear I expected better from. He is not generally that stupid.

On top of those two, the idea that everyone in the whole Collegium would suddenly forget everything that Mags had done and also the fact that he was *chosen* and proceed to act like a group of middle schoolers just felt...wrong. They brought up Tylendel, which was a completely different thing, and then proceeded to act in a way that was *likely* to alienate Mags and potentially cause problems instead of even considering talking to him or possibly helping him if he needed it or doing anything at all that, you know, might have been useful.

Then Mags, after his suicidal episode, proceeds to spend a bunch of time thinking about how he needs to apologize and being all understanding about how the King's Own feels the need to "test" him by leaving him alone in the city with a bunch of terrorists on the lose, terrorists who know him by sight and are likely to hold a grudge against him. No, Mags, just no. Maybe you don't realize, given your upbringing, that these people are all way out of line, but I certainly do. Lackey has successfully given me a reason to root for Mags, though, which was possibly the point.

Dallen is a joy to behold, as always, and a genuine friend.

Kirball got old fast.

I'm glad this wasn't my first Valdemar series, because I'm not sure I would have realized how much I liked them. I'll finish the series, though, mostly because I feel like Mags will end up a hero in the end and maybe people will remember it for more than a month.

Mags' story is finally picking up.

I love that we are clearly going to get some answers about his past, although I would have appreciated them coming before this or at least being actually *stated* in this book instead of just apparently living in his head now without us getting to share them. I really hope the payoff is great, because the pacing of this whole series is terrible.

There were a completely unnecessary number of flashbacks/"drugged" dream sequences in this book. They were overly detailed and honestly felt like the sort of thing added to a book to stretch it out to "full length", and I resented the flashbacks in particular since they were (as far as I can tell without actually having compared them) word-for-word what was written in previous books. I feel like this particular series is too long and I *still* don't think that what happened in those scenes was so long ago that we need detailed flashback sequences.

Firecats are always welcome characters. The whole section in Karse was interesting, actually.

Bear finally getting a showdown with his father was nice, if only because his father has no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. The marriage between he and Lena was moderately unexpected, but prevented from being shocking by virtue of my complete apathy for the two of them. It is something I am beginning to feel (or not feel, as the case may be) for the whole "cast".

I will read the next one, but I hope it is the last in this series, because the characters are all getting less and less fun to spend time with, and I just don't know that the ending is going to be good enough to make up for that.