Trilogy Finished

So I finished the Night Angel trilogy... last night? The night before? As with the first two, I enjoyed it, but it wouldn't be for everyone. This final book felt more rushed to me, like the author had too much to cover. The earlier ones have their own time lapses, but they still seem a bit much here.


As for rushing, we get things like the glimpses of Solon's tale. Returns home for a quick scene, proves himself and marries in a scene, explains the call of prophecy only to have it rejected by his wife, and is shown at the end having gone ahead with things anyway. There's a LOT that could have, and probably deserves to have, been shown there. Durzo's retrieval of Curoch from the woods is totally glossed over, when that could have involved some interesting and exciting scenes - I guess he's more an NPC by showing up at just the right time everywhere to make things work out. In the epilogue, we get "prophetic" descriptions of what happens to people. ... There's just a lot more telling than showing going on than in the earlier two books, and I feel like it's because there were so many threads at this point they couldn't all be tied up with the attention they were individually due.

I liked the use of legendary figures in the current tale, though some of the pieces seem to fit together a little awkwardly. Characters were interesting, though Ezra is a little hard to figure out (I guess that fits his moniker of 'the Mad). Curoch, Iures, and the ka'kari(s) are all neat and fitting as campaign-level artifacts. The wedding rings, however, put me off a little. All that fuss about not being able to undo them, when the guy who first talks about them seemed to imply divorces weren't common, but were possible - by tearing out the rings. Kylar and Vi never even try that, it just seems to be accepted somehow that it won't work.

The Strangers are intriguing. "Real" demons in a sense, though their origins are unclear. Their strict numerical hierarchy when summoned as krul was unique. And the vir, though more tied to Khali than the Strangers by all appearances, was curious twist on things, too.

The dragon mark felt a little out of place. Exactly why Logan was marked is unclear, save it's obvious prophetic value. It's just sort of there until it does its thing, then it's just there again. I didn't see any explanation of why or, really, where it came from.

The price and power of the black ka'kari was particularly interesting. That's a mixed blessing if ever there was one, though it leaves a lot of question as to just how and why it works. "The Wolf" is able to influence details and the timeline, and yet the price is accepted as inevitable (and seems to be extracted more by fate than him or the ka'kari itself) - this strikes me as odd.

I still love the use of prophecy in general. Just about all of Dorian's visions proved to be right, though some were subject to interpretation. And the use of God in the story - "visible" only by belief of followers and, if you accept it, some remarkable coincidences - sort of fits my feelings on the matter, rather than deities that are apparent and obvious.

And Jenine being left carrying two children by different fathers, neither her husband? Oy. Magic's grand, ain't it? That's pretty messed up, and seems worthy of a tale all its own. In fact, there's still lingering prophetic mention of a bearer of Curoch who has yet to be born. I could definitely see more stories based in this setting, though I'm not sure if they could measure up, with so many things revealed.

I may add more thoughts as they come up, but that's enough for now.