The World Raven

The final book in what is ultimately quite a satisfying quadrilogy. The World Raven picks up immediately where the previous book left off with our various POV characters somewhat scattered to the winds. Most of them stay somewhat scattered, but with three different theatres of conflict that is not such a surprise. In the end, despite some of the epic battles that have come in the series the climax is oddly personal, focusing on Utha and Randall. There are some big set pieces still (Halla Summer Wolf vs Rulag Ursa for example) but it is the smaller conflicts and skirmishes that actually lead to the bigger events.

The end is not so much a total end, but the end in a chapter of a long ongoing saga of which this only a small part, and it works in a strangely satisfying way even if not all the characters get full closure. You definitely feel as this, despite being 4 huge tomey books, is just a part of something larger. Will be interested to see if AJ Smith revisits this world in the future in a different phase of this conflict!