With this final version the whole huge series spanning - I think - 16 books comes to a close which is an awful weight to put upon it. Maybe that was the problem as this was a mixed effort, rather like the curate's proverbial egg.

Certain things I liked, such as the interweaving with the LiveShips characters and, to a lesser extent, the Rainwilds ones. Though this went a bit too far in places with every character in those series being dragged in and most of them not much more than cardboard cutouts. Even if they weren't physically present such as Selden they were name-checked. It was a bit heavy handed although it was nice to see the beginning of the resolution of the civil rights issue posed by knowingly keeping should-have-been dragons (or at least their cucoons) as sentient beings that have to serve as ships. And it was fun to see some of the dragons again.

Another positive point was that the last third of the book finally saw some kick-ass action from Bee and from Fitz and the rest of the rescue party. But it took a long while to get there with the interminable self blame etc on the part of Fitz, thinking his daughter is dead even when the Fool tells him otherwise, and Bee believing that her father abandoned her. A lot of the book consists of very long travelogues with, in Fitz's sections, boredom and angst in equal parts and in Bee's, horrible abuse dished out to her by the evil Dwalia and company. It was cheering to at last see Bee's tormentors get their comeuppance.

However, as with previous novels in the extended series, supposedly smart characters are required to act as dunces in order to create peril for themselves later on: there was absolutely no reason for Bee to leave alive a certain person who was at her mercy, other than to put herself and others at his mercy later on and thereby bring about the final tragedy inflicted on her father. Similarly, the whole issue of what would befall Spark's rucksack was obvious as soon as Fitz ignored her instruction to bring it, given what had nearly happened with the Elderling firebrick earlier. With a whole building burning and the ceiling starting to cave in, it really made sense for him to start wandering around the room looking for something to use as a torch .... And of course it is obvious that something bad will come from a dart which hits a certain character and doubly obvious when another character clues in the reader, yet the character hit remains oblivous in the usual Hobb manner.

After the big action sequences, there was a lull before the end of the story proper, with more angst due to the usual misunderstandings between characters which had the effect of again making the pace drag.

A big problem with the book and the series as a whole was that the Fool didn't come across as the character seen in earlier books. Somehow he remained very flat: a problem, considering this was supposed to be as much his story as Fitz's. The final resolution of the bond between him and Fitz (no spoilers) is told through Bee's viewpoint and not Fitz's, so the whole scene came across as very "blink and you missed it" and anticlimatic. It should have been gutwrenchingly sad - the death of Nighteyes in an earlier series was such - and yet struck me as predicable and, in view of the ghastly infliction from which Fitz suffers, rather too protracted. There wasn't any sense in this book that they shared a deep friendship. I'd never thought it was meant to be a gay relationship, at least from Fitz's view, but in this series and especially this volume they spent much of the time at loggerheads with constant misunderstandings. With the final scene from another character's POV, there isn't even a satisfying emotional connection at the end.

I also didn't find it helpful to have uncle Tom Cobbly and all dragged into that section. Certain people such as Queen Elliana, King Dutiful and their sons never rose off the page as real characters. Others such as Nettle were just plain irritating in their willful neglect and disbelief of anything Bee said, despite the fact that everything that had gone before showed how remarkable she was. I liked that Kettricken got a good part, that Nighteyes was finally acknowledged as a spirit presence, and that Per had justice done by him - something no one else in the Farseer family had any intention of doing until Fitz forced it on them - and that Motley survives. But the last section suffered from having too many characters involved unnecessarily.

I also thought that the detailed descriptions of torture and abuse were a bit too protracted and dark. It's clear already how bad the Servants are, especially with the detailing of sexual abuse in book 2 of the trilogy. A lot of that was overkill.

The setup at the end possibly leaves things open for sequels following other characters. Certainly a lot of things were raised and never resolved such as the real nature of the Skill current and why certain people's powers work or don't work at certain convenient moments, or work in vastly different ways yet are all meant to be Skill-derived. The possibility of survival within the current of certain larger-than-life humans was raised but was only reported by Nighteyes. That was definitely a lost opportunity for real drama and connection, especially as Chade was apparently part of the communication.

So with a mixed impression I would rate this at 3 stars overall. ( )

I couldn't imagine a more possible ending for this series and these beloved characters. That is all I can say about this now - because I can't stop bawling. ( )

Damn it, Robin Hobb, why do you have to make me feel ALL OF THE THINGS?!?!? ( )

This is the perfect finale to the Realm of the Elderings. Hands down the best literary experience I’ve ever had. Absolutely amazing. ( )

I liked most of the story well enough but the Fool was far too intrusive and self absorbed and that was really overwhelming. ( )