The Treacherous Balance

Just when you thought it was all over, it soon becomes clear that destiny is not yet done with Edmund, the elements, and their companions. With the fate of two of their own unknown, there is one journey left to make to find out what happened to those they left behind. However, it soon becomes clear that the way is fraught with danger and without the steady and unfailing help of Eliom, they can but hope they make it through unscathed. And whilst it seems that they always seem to get there in the end, this time, their luck may have run out.

With 3 of the 4 elements saved, they begin a life of bliss, recovering from the events that unfolded in The Entity of Souls, but much to the surprise of the elements, they have one last journey to make to recover Soph and Elanore who were last seen being overrun by the last of Renard's clones. Before they can begin, Eliom is brutally stripped of his powers, and fears that what is left of him will cause destruction beyond belief. As the characters begin to understand what this means for him, we slowly get an insight into the Wizarding Order and what Eliom has been holding back all those years. And although for those travelling with him see a husk of the person he used to be, we are able to see and feel the raw emotion and pain he is trying to get to grips with.

Despite choosing to stay, the last element in the Digger world is far from safe either, as she finds herself back on the run. Choosing to stay behind has caused the balance between the worlds to become unstable, a state of being the Builder cannot leave unchecked. Just when she thought she was safe to spend an eternity with her love, she will once again have to risk it all in order to feel safe once more.

Despite feeling done with their journey, the group cannot leave the Entity of Souls to continue to falsely draw humans into it's power over and over again. Once they have the facts in order, there is one last task for them to complete.

The destruction of the Entity of souls is the last stage to the long journey of the group, and the shocking discovery to both Edmund and Eliom that the wizard Eliom had once thought he had destroyed is at the centre of the matter leads to even more questions. However, with the Wizarding Order there to help along the way, the final task should hopefully be an easy one. However, from the moment I read that Meggie was not going to make it coming back through the gateway, to the brutal beheading of Saz (that was so unexpected, I almost missed it!), I knew that in the final conclusion no one was going to be safe from harm this time.I admire a story where the author is not afraid to kill off main characters (I'm looking at you George Martin). I have a deep loathing of plot armour (for those that don't know, it's where characters will face certain death but make it through because they are needed for the plot to move forward) because it so often ends up with a lucky coincidence saving them, or by some ridiculously unrealistic means; you have to write characters well for you not to feel they have plot armour. And whilst some of the instances in these novels have erred on the side of plot armour, I have felt more that they have escaped through the strength of their characters and the group they have become. I also like the portrayals of the deaths themselves, as whilst Meggie's was more drawn out, the swiftness of Saz's demise is just as important, as so often in real life it can be a shock.