*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***
This book is my favorite in the series so far!
Finally, Will and Halt are back together again! There's a battle to fight in Skandia, but ultimately we see our heroes return home to Araluen, and that's all I really wanted.
The author continues to favor "grim" and "uncanny" as his two favorite adjectives. Humor was a solid strength in this book, as Halt's small size was juxtaposed with Erak's massiveness, and the Skandians' simple tactic-less fighting was pointed out in matter-of-fact ways.
My feelings for Evanlyn continued to wax and wane; I got annoyed at her behavior, and then she'd redeem herself. I think in the back of my mind I'm always fearful that a romance will blossom between her and Will, or her and Horace, and it's one my biggest pet peeves to see an action/adventure movie get sidetracked by superfluous romance! I know we barely knew them, but I thought Alyss was meant for Will, and Jenny for Horace. I guess with Horace becoming a great knight, he's far above Jenny's station now, which is unfortunate. I'm still disappointed that we've now pretty much lost sight of Alyss, Jenny, and George, and I wonder if we'll see much of them at all in the remaining books.
I'm also still a bit indignant that King Duncan "got away" with his daughter never knowing that he completely forsook her to her fate in the hands of her Skandian captors.
Those minor quibbles aside, it was great to see Halt and Will and Horace back in all their glory. And I have to admit, I enjoyed being won over by Erak. Fine, he's the one who kidnapped Will and Evanlyn in the first place, but I guess he, too, redeemed himself after all.
Finally, just an added tip: If you want to read the books chronologically, after Book 4, read Book 7, and then go back to Books 5 and 6! There is an Author's Note in Book 7 explaining how he realized after the fact that he should have filled in the period of time between Books 4 and 5.
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