So, I finally (FINALLY) got my grubby paws on the final book of the Broken Empire trilogy - a pleasure too long delayed. First surprise: (oh, SPOILER) Sexy Aunt lives on! (long live Sexy Aunt!). Not what I'd figured when I read the previous book, but not an unwelcome revelation. Sexy Aunt always complicates things for Jorg in very readable ways. 
 Less surprising in concept, though still thankfully novel in execution: Jorg is still Our Jorg, with all his winsomely idiosyncratic ways. An old enemy lurking nearby and threatening your child? Nothing some creatively bold interpretation of what others regard as the "rules" mixed with brazen murder can't solve! Trapped at the bottom of a pit and want something to throw at your tormentors? Lop your friend's head off! Problem solving, Jorg Ancrath style. 
 So. As you might gather, Jorg's continuing moral maturation (I'm pretty sure moral's the word, anyway) as he looks upon deeds past in a clearer - perhaps cleaner? - light hasn't really so much taken the edge off his signature ruthlessness as, at best, sharpened its focus. Good for some, bad for those still in his way. Impressively (given all Jorg has already done) Lawrence still does manage to create some tension regarding just how far Jorg really will go, in at least one respect (spoiler: I mean regarding the matter of the woman in the funny hat). In the end though, Jorg stays true to form in a way that feels natural, not merely expected. Which sentence applies to the book as a whole to a great extent, actually. 
 The "big reveal" regarding the Dead King isn't something I would've guessed from earlier in the sequence, but I had a pretty fair sense of it well before it actually arrived in this book. Jorg's final response to it, though, wasn't something I saw coming - at least, not exactly. Yes, the day is saved (and thanks to Jorg Ancrath, of all people), and Jorg even finds some redemption, after his own fashion. Though given the precise nature of said salvation and redemption, it's difficult to call the resolution "triumphant" or any term akin to that, exactly. 
 But really, who actually thought this story would have a happy ending? Far better that it should have what it does - a good ending. One that fits. One I'm glad to have been there for. 
 (Coda: couldn't find a place for this in the main review - or at least couldn't be arsed to - but still wanted to note that the black humor as well as the sometimes absurdist character of relations to the knowledge and relics of the fabled past (the Custodian (the poor fucker) and the preserved knowledge of the great master Lee being two examples that ranked high for me) is as present and as enjoyable here as before. sometimes when things are darkest you can really use a good laugh, even if it's a bit of a nasty one.)