This is Book 5 of the Bright Empires series.
The first four books in this series were incredibly interesting and very well done.
It's not easy to pull off a story arc based on ley travel without getting caught up in all of the paradoxes and complications, but Lawhead managed to do so with great plausibility and skill.
With that said, I was very disappointed with this last book of the series. The plot, which used to be interesting, became painfully flat and predictable. Even the Epilogue could not handle all of the gaping plot holes and dangling loose ends. With the exception of Burleigh, there was essentially no character development whatsoever. I have always appreciated Lawhead's ability to incorporate Christian themes with subtlety, but in this book he actually came across as heavy handed and
preachy.
This was a series that had incredible potential, but in the end it just felt like Lawhead lost his grip on the threads of the story and didn't have the energy to gather them back up again. If you're already invested in the series, it is worth seeing through to the end. If you haven't read any of it yet, I would still say that the series is worth your time, as long as you're ok with the fact that it starts with a bang and ends with a whimper.
The first four books in this series were incredibly interesting and very well done.
It's not easy to pull off a story arc based on ley travel without getting caught up in all of the paradoxes and complications, but Lawhead managed to do so with great plausibility and skill.
With that said, I was very disappointed with this last book of the series. The plot, which used to be interesting, became painfully flat and predictable. Even the Epilogue could not handle all of the gaping plot holes and dangling loose ends. With the exception of Burleigh, there was essentially no character development whatsoever. I have always appreciated Lawhead's ability to incorporate Christian themes with subtlety, but in this book he actually came across as heavy handed and
preachy.
This was a series that had incredible potential, but in the end it just felt like Lawhead lost his grip on the threads of the story and didn't have the energy to gather them back up again. If you're already invested in the series, it is worth seeing through to the end. If you haven't read any of it yet, I would still say that the series is worth your time, as long as you're ok with the fact that it starts with a bang and ends with a whimper.
