This last installment of what was once upon a time supposed to be a trilogy (famous last words) was engrossing enough to keep me hunched over the pages long into the night. However, I was pretty irritated with the conclusion. In an effort to wrap everything up in a satisfying way, Williams offered a number of resolutions that felt unearned, unjustified - one in particular, which was not earned though long predicted. Despite falling victim to certain tropes, Shadowheart's last straggling flaws weren't enough of a problem to mar the rest of the massive quantity of pages that came before -- the major resolution, the apocalypse and godwars and mysteries that have been building since the first book, was thoroughly satisfying, if not mind-blowing. On the whole it's a decent series- not as good as his earlier works, but still engaging & considerably better than many in the genre. I'm picky because I know Tad Williams can do better than this, but even at his middling he's a great storyteller and world-builder.