Member Review

Al MacBharrais is a sigil agent, keeping the monsters and gods that roam the Earth in line, one treaty at a time. He's more than ready to retire, but a couple of curses he's having trouble getting rid of, a former Irish death goddess looking to start a new life, and some supernaturals misbehaving are keeping him more than busy.

It's the perfect ending to Al's story. We get to see the very satisfying tying off of many of the threads laid down by the previous volumes and a couple of fun adventures to fill in the gaps in between. It does feel a tiny bit like they were ideas for more books that got shoehorned into a final volume, but Hearne makes it work through sheer writing mastery. Every character and situation has a reason for being there and adds to the story even when it might not feel like it; some line or moment later in the story will prove that reason. So even though it's objectively a complex story with way too many characters, it remains a fun, easy to follow adventure.

I do not recommend jumping into this series with this volume. Not just because it's the last of the series, but because it's a ton of characters and backstories that you need to have straight to truly appreciate it. It is not the kind of book where you can just jump in and figure things out.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine | Del Rey for the excellent read!