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thefancyotter's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
sanjastajdohar's review against another edition
5.0
What a wonderful finale of this magnificent series. We got some answers about the nature of the Edge, we got to know so many charaters and creatures. It was a remarkable journey.
miketheboy89's review
3.0
A slightly convoluted plot aside, this final installment of Stewart and Riddell's epic series must first and foremost be regarded for what it truly represents: The immense scale and magnitude of how far the co-authors have come in their development of the Edge itself. The scale at which the series comes to be written is admirable, and though the tenth novel gave a small piece of this, it left something to be discovered, and this thirteenth novel fulfills it. Upon first inspection it is easy to see the flaws: the slower pace, the exorbitant amount of characters, and the lack of a strong antagonist, but in taking a step back to examine this conclusion in the overall scope of the series prompts a much greater appreciation. That being said, the flaws still have an impact on the quality, of course, so it is by no means a perfect novel. Overall, though, it is a much more thought-provoking and serene novel than perhaps any of its predecessors, and yet it still manages to unite the tales prior to it, although perhaps with too many endings in all of the loose endings needing to be tied up. Those tallow-hats are also pretty sweet.
tallguyjenks's review
5.0
Great cap to the series. This really helps put a neat little bow on the millennia of time in the fictional world that passes, references many old faces in the story while also giving a nice resolution to this the latest trilogy. Paul Stewart does it again.
librarycobwebs's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tobestik's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
[Loudly, and with so much feeling] T O L L I N I X
Anyway I've been crying for a week now everything's FINE except it's NOT and I love my stupid Verginix boys so much.
Spoiler
Seriously though.... naming your ship the Linius Pallitax.... N A T E. But also I'm so glad Celestia exists just in general but also to be like oh great the whole family is just Like That.
Also after 10 years (oh god that's such a long time) I finally got an answer to my question of Is Ambris Hentadile Okay? and honestly, I'm happy with the answer. Short of him getting to retire happily this is I guess next best thing. And also I ascended to the next plane when who I assume is Maugin showed up that's uh, that's my official date of death tbh.
Anyway good "end" to the series. I see you Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, not putting "The final book in the Edge Chronicles" on the cover of this one. I see you.
oldmanrupee's review
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It felt far too rushed in the second half, certain characters and plot points would have benefitted from being fleshed out more
ailsaod's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I'm beginning to think that maybe I can't love this series as much as I used to - although I will need to reread the Rook trilogy first to tell. I have not read 'Doombringer' - book 2 of the Cade Trilogy - but I reread 'the Nameless one' specially in preparation for this hefty doorstop. What this has made apparent is that the Cade trilogy suffers from pacing issues. 'The Nameless one' meanders around in a fairly plotless manner, mainly setting the scene and 'Doombringer' appears to have been fairly self contained plot-wise (though I cannot confirm this) and I cannot help but feel like the first two books could have become one and 'the Descenders' split in two. 'The Descenders' does something similar to 'Star wars: the rise of Skywalker' in that it crams a whole trilogy onto the end of a story supposedly already two thirds in. Admittedly I enjoyed 'The Descenders' MUCH more than SW:tRoS but the plot seemed to go on and on in lots of easily separable pieces, one of which could have easily have been used to split the story in half.
Stewart and Riddell did just about justify the existence of the Cade trilogy with this book though. About the only remaining question about the edge after 'the immortals' was what is down there and while I think any attempt at answering that question would prove somewhat unsatisfying (and does a little), the first part of 'The descenders' that details Nate's descending expeditions was by far the best. Stewart and Riddell tackle the question in a manner that was exciting and reminded me of when I first read these books, though some of the drawings of the geology of the edge cliff made me laugh and the reveal of the true nature of the edge was weird.
There are also some aspects of this story that I'm not sure how deep I'm supposed to read. Probably not very but the corruption of the Freeglade Lancers from what they were in Rook's time invites comparison with long lasting institutions in real life that people look on favorably because of the past and is the nameless ones being called that an effort from the dwarves that enslave them to dehumanise them? Am I reading too much into it? Quite possibly!
Now onto my complaints: Nate should be the main character of this book - Cade never grew on me and is frustratingly incompetent and it is Nate who drives the story. Also the explanation of how Cade and Nate are related is hilariously complicated and is on par with Spock having multiple siblings he decided to keep secret! The other descenders in this story were also really interesting characters - the waif, trog duo's backstory was amazing - but their potential felt wasted with how much ground the book had to cover.
As I reread the edge chronicles I'm beginning to realise that Stewart and Riddell don't know how to deal with female characters - name one character whose mother is present in the story (Twig's adoptive mother being the notable almost exception as while Twig never sees her again she actually survived until the beginning of the story!). EVERY major character in this series has a dead/absent mother but a pretty high percentage have fathers (though they often do a bad job). I think they have gotten some things right with the female main characters in the past but Celestia really got done dirty here! She goes and joins the skymarshalls in New Sanctaphrax and participates in ONE skirmish, gets injured and nothing else happens with it. Why bother having her join in the first place? The only reason I can think of is that it introduces us to Brock, a member of the skymarshalls but then this becomes an implied love triangle and Brock is promptly punished by the narrative for daring to meddle with the endgame couple. Also there was NO reason for her and Cade to get together at the end. It was a textbook example of the guy gets the girl even if she's never noticed him before trope - one of my least favorite! ALSO why do they name their son TWIG of all things it makes NO SENSE!?
The ending was extremely displeasing to me - I won't go into it because that would be spoilery but it was dissatisfying on so many different levels. Despite my whinge-fest I would recommend this book to fans of the edge chronicles, though if you haven't read any of the Cade trilogy I would suggest stopping at 'the Immortals' if you want maximum closure. If you are just starting the series don't read this book - any book before 'the immortals' is a much better starting place!
The ending was extremely displeasing to me - I won't go into it because that would be spoilery but it was dissatisfying on so many different levels. Despite my whinge-fest I would recommend this book to fans of the edge chronicles, though if you haven't read any of the Cade trilogy I would suggest stopping at 'the Immortals' if you want maximum closure. If you are just starting the series don't read this book - any book before 'the immortals' is a much better starting place!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death
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