I loved most of the previous entries, I’ve gone through them all, but this one was a bit of a letdown in comparison. The middle specifically dragged and was tough to continue to power through. While I understand the intent is to have Bard be an annoying character, for me this crossed the line into just irritating the reader over and over. Moreover, the amount of power creep for some or lack for others did not feel justified, in my opinion. The ending only brought minor closure, and I can’t say I’m particularly interested to see what happens next.