Foreword: I read this fifth and final volume of a series without having read the others, so although I must compliment the author because the book is definitely enjoyable even read on its own, I definitely missed a few details, especially regarding the development of the characters and the relationships between them. Having said that, I really liked the feminist spirit that permeates the novel, carried above all by the character of Cathy, an authentic suffragette, and the architecture of the secret world of Nether, magical and Victorian, governed according to the darkest desires of men and their desire to control women.

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A disappointing finish to an otherwise thoroughly digestible series, full of plot contrivances but lacking many characters and plot threads we had previously been exposed to.

I was all set for a wild ride in this fifth instalment of the Split Worlds, and Emma Newman doesn’t fail to deliver. I’m impressed by how many loose threads get tied up, although this final instalment felt rushed in comparison to the previous books. All Good Things is a race to the finish as situations finally escalate out of all control with a lot of ground still left to cover. I particularly struggled with the force-growing of Lucy and Tom Papaver from minor to major supporting roles; I didn't feel the book quite did their journey justice.

Nonetheless, this is a triumphant conclusion in terms of exploring and confronting its themes. While it took me a while to warm up to the Split Worlds, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the rollercoaster and I'd be curious to see how the intriguing new future shapes up.

https://lynns-books.com/2017/06/08/all-good-things-the-split-worlds-5-by-emma-newman/
All Good things is the final instalment in Emma Newman’s split world series. I must admit that I had my concerns about exactly how this would all conclude but I feel that Ms Newman has pulled out all the stops to give her readers a satisfactory ending to this story. If you haven’t read the previous books in the series be aware that spoilers will be lurking below.

As the story begins we have a scenario where Cathy has finally escaped from her husband Will and is staying under the protection of Sam (Lord Iron). It may grate on her a little to need Sam’s help in this way but his property is protected and Will cannot find her while she remains there, on top of this Bea, the powerful sorceress who we learned of in the last book, is also staying at Sam’s and has offered to help Cathy to learn some basic magic so that she can rely on herself – however, in return she does expect Cathy to help persuade Sam to assist with her plan to change the Nether forever.

Meanwhile, back in the Nether, Will is desperate to find Cathy. His family have become super powerful but his status is far from secure. If it becomes apparent that his wife has deserted him he will be forced to give up his position and his patron will be very displeased.

Finally, Rupert, the only Sorcerer now left, is making plans to retaliate against Bea. Using Max and the gargoyle to assist him he’s come up with a cunning plan although he’s perhaps being a little less than truthful about the impact his plans will have on others.

So, there are a number of things going on here and the story really does move along at a fast click. In fact in that respect it’s quite a step out of character from the previous instalments which felt like they had a softer, more character driven approach. In fact one of my only criticisms is that the book had an almost rushed approach. I think it probably could have been easily extended and in fact that would have helped to retain the feel of the previous books. As it is it feels a little like the author wanted to bring this to a conclusion and so there was almost a sense of urgency to the read. I’m not saying that it spoiled the read at all but it just felt a little different in style than the other books in the series.

What I really enjoyed about this was the sense of completion in terms of a number of the characters.

Cathy, who has struggled with a way to bring equality to the Nether society finally seems to come to terms with the fact that she will probably never succeed – or at least she might set the ball rolling but no obvious differences are likely to occur in her lifetime. She needs a different approach and she comes up with a very radical solution. One that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and will involve a lot of upheaval but nonetheless a solution. I felt that Cathy’s character really developed. She is much more determined and even though she has doubts she’s confident enough to push ahead with her plans.

Will – well, I kept hoping that Will was just misguided, or foolish. He had moments where he almost redeemed himself but basically they were all fairly shallow gestures in the end. I’m not going to elaborate on what happens to Will here other than to say that he becomes a lot more involved with the fae and once again makes the mistake of trying to make decisions for Cathy. He is so misguided!

Sam is coming to terms with his role in the world as Lord Iron and is trying to make reparations for the damage caused to the environment by his predecessors. In a way he doesn’t really play too large a role in this book other than being a supporting character for Cathy.

Max and the gargoyle, who are a great double act, have really come along. Max is finally coming to terms with the horror of what really happened to him and with the gargoyle as his emotional barometer is becoming a lot more sympathetic. I loved this pair of characters and thought their concluding storyline was great.

The only disappointment in terms of the characters was Lucy. I’m not going to give away any spoilers but I couldn’t really get my head around what happened in terms of her. It just didn’t sit right for me somehow or was simply too much.

However, in spite of a couple of niggles I really did think that this was a very good conclusion to the story. Ms Newman has managed to find an ending that I would never have guessed, she solves a couple of puzzles along the way and although she ties up a lot of loose ends she even leaves the tantalising possibility for a return to some of the characters from this series.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I a stalwart fan of Emma Newman through her powerful work, Planetside. Although the tone and plot of the Split Worlds series are very different, I loved them all, devouring the previous four books in less than one week. After waiting for the final book for almost a year, I found it a satisfying conclusion to the series. As with the previous books in the series, All Good Things deals heavily with themes of feminism, environmentalism, agency, and responsibility.

This book is the completion of a long story arc, and I don't believe it should be read without the rest of the series. All of the characters from previous books have returned. As always, I wasn't quite sure if I actually liked Cathy, the major protagonist of the series and the is the driving force of the story. Cathy is a fierce feminist who wants to bring change to the changeless Nether world, but to me it feels like she is driven by a selfish, myopic ideology that often stops her from seeing the harm her actions inflict on others. This selfishness is examined in the novel: Cathy seeks to bring dramatic change, and this is bound to have negative impacts on others. What right does she have to make these types of decisions for so many others? As one character puts it:

"To create change, to disrupt a system of control, one must carry out radcal acts. One must be prepared to destroy so that something new can be created. Those in control will never give up the power afforded to them voluntarily. It must be taken. If that requires the deaths of a few to give freedom to the many-- and survival of the many--then so be it. This is not a gentle act."

But who has the right to decide to make that sacrifice? Does having the power to carry out the act give you the right to do so?

Fortunately, the other characters-- Sam, Lucy, Kay, and the gargoyle -- are more sympathetic. However, there's a big "anyone can die" and "anyone can betray" vibe in the novel. There is no easy division into protagonists and antagonists in the novel: everyone is driven by their own motivations and secret loyalties. Because of this, there have been many different antagonists in the story, with protagonists easily morphing into enemies. Sometimes, the changes felt too facile to me, the deaths of characters too superficial, the betrayals too unrooted. I particularly disliked how anticlimactic some of the dismissals of characters we've grown to care about throughout the series were, and how easily the characters were forgotten and set aside. At the same time, I loved some of the twists of All Good Things: one of my favourite aspects of the book is how antagonists morph into allies and how an abrupt twist brought the one true villain of the series into sharp relief.

At its core, the novel is all about control and ownership and responsibility, and however surprising the ending, I found All Good Things a satisfying end to the series. If you've read the other Split Worlds books, I don't need to tell you about this book because you're going to read it anyway. As for me, I can't wait to see what Emma Newman has in store for her readers next.

Well written. Interesting premise and conclusion to a series.

My next book was the final instalment of Emma Newman's The Split Worlds series with All Good Things. The story starts immediately after the events of book 4 where Cathy escapes her disastrous marriage to Will and is now staying with Lord Iron aka Sam. Sam has also given refuge to Bea, a sorceress who has killed many in an attempt to bring down barriers between the worlds. Joined by Max and the gargoyle, Sam and Cathy try to find a way to bring balance between the worlds while at the same time trying to stop anyone else getting killed in the process.

I have enjoyed this story but did not enjoy this final book. It felt like several chapters were missing as there is a big hole in one of the plot lines. I actually went back and re-read a couple of chapters as I thought my Kindle had jumped ahead. Cathy's husband Will was exceptionally annoying and in times Cathy was just a bit too whiny. Due to this I found the latter half of the book a bit jarring and rushed at the end. I wasn't really sad to see this story end which was too bad as I really enjoyed the earlier books.

I was so happy to get my hands on an ARC of All Good Things! I'm a big fan of this series, I've been avidly following Cathy's journey through the first four books and I was excited to see how the story would conclude.

Cathy has been on a massive journey. From the scared young woman in the first book to the Duchess of Londinium trying to effect social change, she has now grown into a true leader, Princess Leia rebel style.

For the first few books, Cathy was mainly ineffective, complaining but not actually doing anything. In the last two books she has made grown in confidence, started caring about other people, and made some real changes, but what she does here is just brilliant. I love the way this book ended.

The side stories were neatly wrapped up too. Though I do feel like there was a lot of wrapping up in this book, and at times a lot of the stories felt rushed. Will and the Fae princess, for example, seemed to be a bit crammed in.

I'm not happy about what happened with Lucy. (view spoiler)

Max and the gargoyle have been my favourite characters by far. I'd love to see some more of them, I feel like Cathy's story might be done but those two have a lot of work to do now.

This has been one of my favourite series and I'm sad to see it end, but I'm also excited to see what Emma Newman does next.

All Good Things is the final book in the split worlds series. The character development continues and it's very satisfactory to see Cathy truly come into her own and find the strength inside herself that the reader has always known is there. I also liked that we saw more of the supporting characters in this book and they developed nicely too. I was overall pleased with the conclusion and I am a little sad to see it end.

All Good Things is the final installation in the Split Worlds series.

Cathy and the new Lord Iron--Sam--have banded together to keep her safe from the Irises as well as figure out how to bring Nether society into the 21st century. Women in the Nether are treated less like modern women and more like the property they effectively were in the Regency era.

Since the fae-touched residents live in a pocket world where time isn't a factor, generations of Nether society have gone on for hundreds of years without aging. Social change has moved correspondingly slowly.

Sam and Cathy team up with the murderous sorceress Beatrice when she brings them a proposal that makes a lot of sense, and will change all of the Split Worlds forever.

All Good Things is a fitting conclusion to a great series. Cathy has come into her own, and becomes far less the main character who complains about her treatment and knows nothing of how to change it--and far more the woman ready to move worlds to get things done. We also see a lot more of Sam, Max, and the gargoyle--and their own great strides in character development.