Ruin

This was a very good book, the best in the series so far and showing how much the author evolved. Both in character building, his best (i love how they evolve and devolve and fall back and so on, like real people) and in straying farther and farther from purely epic fantasy into grimdark land (not fully, but plenty). I can finally stop complaining about too many and confusing POVs and and too many, too similar plots. What I cannot, and the reason I do not go full 5 stars, though it is better than 4 (9/10), is the predictibility. I just got tired of all the running away and hiding and retreating after 2 books of only that and still it's obvious that the author is not done with that. It grew highly predictable and boring that each time the good guys raise their heads a little smth overwhelming “suprisingly” happens. And back to running... in my language there is a saying that thoroughly applies here (and to mr. Gwynne): “ții cu ursul” (literally “you'd rather support the bear”, less literally that someone telling a story does everything possible, even implausable, so that the MC does not win, or in real life supporting the enemies of his own people - bear in mind - pun intended - in here we still have trouble being hunted by bears and they are an ordinary sight in some towns and cities). In short a very, very good book that left LotR territory and went full ASOIAF and Last Kingdom (which is great), while still being somewhat predictable in constantly overpowering the bad guys.