I must say that I was slightly surprised that this book ended the series. I literally had no idea going in that this would be the last novel, and while I am glad that I got some closure I am sad to see it end. This is a damn good series and I am going to miss it. Want to know what shocked me was how long the first two books are in comparison to the wrap up. Thankfully, this does not feel truncated, and it doesn’t end all in a flowery garden.

In fact, I kept thinking that there was more to come as the book went on. IN fact, I wondered several times how anything was going to be resolved since the other books were over 24 hours in length. Needless to say, Kuznits pulls it off plausibly and entertainingly. Sadly, aside from some liberties taken with a certain shadow, no torture takes place in this book.

The story is set, for the most part in a Hobgoblin city that isn’t too kind to non-hobs and outsiders are treated with less than a modicum of respect. Oren and his team need to establish a trade route in order to help his village survive the upcoming storm of players and along the way we get arena fights, backstabbed deals, some new friends, and a conclusion to the Guy vs the world saga that has been going on since book one. I won’t say who wins.

I have to say that I like that the series did not end on a super happy note and that there were still some questions that needed answered, as it does leave a door open for further novels in the future. The ending, for what happens with the MC is pretty realistic, and in a gritty series where he kept pushing boundaries I’m surprised he didn’t end up pushing daisies instead.

My only complaint is that this book seems like it was rushed to the finish line. Honestly, I was expecting something along the line of maybe 7 books, and that for some reason about midway through Shemer decided he’d had enough and just started wrapping up plot points. Aside from that the book is pretty good. 8.2 stars for a strong finale, coulda been more but there were several things that we readers wanted to know, but never got the answers to.