A review by luisasm
The Empty Kingdom by Elizabeth Wein

5.0

A fitting conclusion to this series, which I read in three days. Telemakos proves himself again, through even more ordeals and incredible intelligence. But what really got me in this book was the characters. The entire series has really been about families. The plot lines amplify their personalities, but every single characters is so much more complex. Even the tiniest characters, rarely seen, contains considerable depth. It's refreshing. There is no black and white enemy. Even the most horrific of Telemakos' abusers is seen differently at the end. There are real issues here involving torture, morality, family loyalties, heirs, it's all so intricate but never incomprehensible. It's tragic while at the same time loving. If I had to complain, I might say that the ending was very sudden, though maybe it's just because I wanted to continue reading this book forever. Now that I think about it, it's also ambiguous. Things don't tie up nicely, there will still be problems. And there's something unfair about it all, but that's just the way politics work. It's oddly realistic. Who knows what Telemakos will do. Who knows what Athena's life will be like. We don't know what happened to a lot of the characters, but it's okay because we got such a full picture of them while they lasted. There's something very rich about this whole series, something very whole, and it's all so satisfying.