While I enjoyed this installment and found it a fast-paced read, it felt more like an epilogue to book 4 than a complete story of its own. We see our heroes return to Riga, which is the last place I wanted to spend any more time, and in the company of some faie from Alec's past, though not nearly enough time was spent developing that link or foreshadowing where it might lead. Definitely worth continuing the story, but don't expect anything from this one that you haven't read before. ( )

Dayum. ( )

I must have been sleeping when I picked this up. Should have woken up to put it back before I left the shop

Over the course of the Nightrunner books Alec and Seregil have robbed, spied, fought and fallen in love. In the last book they escaped from slavery and betrayal, with an alchemical creature created from Alec's blood in tow. Sebrahn seems like a child with healing powers, but to those with the Sight he appears as a dark and fearsome dragon. Is he destined for great evil, great good, or something in between? Alec is conflicted about his feelings for Sebrahn, who is both his best chance at having a child and a constant reminder of his enslavement and torture. He and his partner seek answers about Sebrahn while various other factions seek to capture and control them.

I really enjoyed earlier books in this series when I was younger, but too much time has passed since then. I don't remember any of the background characters and I've read enough fantasy that the huge numbers of made up names and titles just annoy me now. The real problem is that the book is just really boring. ( )

This was more of a return to form by Lyn Flewelling, after the disappointment of Shadow's Return.

The dropping of some of the secondary story lines still bugs me - at the begining of Shadow's Return there is at least a chapter or two on Kila and the implications of her return, yet in this book even though our protagonists visit where she had been there is no mention of her, whether she returned and what the queen's response was. Then in the last chapter we get a sudden potential job that has 'political' ramifications so I assume we are back to the relationship between Kila and the Queen!

I enjoyed the book, though it is not as good as the first three books in the series, and it is not as dark as others. Overall an enjoyable read ( )