Fallen

Things are noticeably moving to a head in this tenth book in the series, with some of the ongoing plot threads tied up. On the downside, there's less of the world-building than usual, the pieces already being set up and not much new added. There are no significant new characters in this one, either, although a few older characters that we haven't seen for some time make a welcome return. Still, with the body count quite high in this one, the cast is shrinking rather than expanding as the end of the series approaches.

Arguably, nothing much really happens in the first part of the book until things suddenly go off the rails and Alex is on the run. Again. What follows includes some really quite brutal scenes, some of which involve Alex being a rather darker and less sympathetic character than before. Sure, it's always been there in earlier books, and the situation he's in is dire, but this one seems to be pushing at the boundaries more than it did before. Which makes, at least for me, a less enjoyable read, even if the specific events are justifiable in context. There's a dramatic climax, sure, but even that seems to be pushing towards a darker story - and not just because of what the villains are doing.