I love this series as a whole and I think it’s a sleeper hit in the fantasy/sci-fi world. There are so many fine moments in this last book and I love Xiala/Serapio’s arcs the most. I felt Naranpa and Okoa were cast aside by the end, for the plot, but perhaps unnecessarily so. Their conclusions were unsatisfactory to me. Plus, the last few chapters felt rushed in my opinion, but endings are hard especially for a book series finale so I give props to Roanhoarse for constructing this complex, fascinating universe. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this series and I’ll think about it a lot.

What a wrap to this trilogy. Many moments I had to rant about to my partner, but I think that just goes to show how emotionally attached I became to characters and the plot. I would devour more of these, but also understand if this is all we get.

Ok here's the thing about this series: the worldbuilding and characters are FANTASTIC, but there were too many things going on and I think it got away from the author. Therefore the conclusion of this series didn't stick the landing, and I definitely feel like there are things left unresolved (which is not really where you want to be after 600 pages). It felt like the world got too big and unruly. There were too many threads to follow and tie back together (and then introducing new things in the third book when things need to be wrapping up!?). So we spend too much time lost in descriptions and court politics that don't actually amount to anything (like ultimately did the sky clans even matter when it just comes down to a few people playing god?! and the coyote clan was just completely abandoned after book 2).

The plot pacing in most of this series is just not great - there are so many large sections of especially books 2 and 3 where nothing important is happening, but questions also aren't being answered. Like halfway through this third book I did not understand WHY these different groups were even going to war, and that's because it wasn't explained yet! Was there a reason the Teek lost their song and Xiala was the only one? or was that just to make her more powerful? I love a prophecy plotline, but I also feel like if that's going to be introduced (for a second time in this series) then there needs to be a reason besides: Serapio needs something to do.

ALSO WTF was the point of Serapio and Okoa reconciling if he was gonna be killed for literally WHAT reason? Make it make sense! It felt like some character needed to die so he was randomly chosen. And the other 4 main characters couldn't die because their stories are all left unresolved: esp Naranpa, like wtf she ends the series just basically in a coma??

Naranpa deserved better than this ending, and honestly I felt she was the most underutilized character after so much character development from book 1! Like yes the things she's doing in this book are cool, but she's also completely separated from the main world and everything going on. Also please explain to me why we had that whole big thing between her and Serapio  at the end of book two and then she never even sees/speaks to him again...

Xiala and Serapio you will always be famous! Honestly I'm being generous with my rating because I love these characters so much and that's partially why I wanted a better written ending for them!!!