What a ride this was. All three books were fantastic and tight, but this one felt absolutely gorgeous. I can't say that about most books, urban fantasy or otherwise, but I can with this one. It had the perfect joy of ups and downs, subtle magics and a mind-blowing over the top epic space monster battle. It had enemies turning into friends. It had the struggle of ultimate evil in a woman's heart. 
 This might have been the last of the hugo nominees for the year that I've read, but I have to admit to myself that it was probably the very best of them. That's a tough call for me. I really enjoyed the others a lot. There wasn't a choice that I didn't enjoy. 
 I was even a little biased against this one because I had read a few of this author's MHI books, and while they were quite fun and interesting, they didn't have near the same polish as this series. 
 All three books belong together, but I suppose people could read this one out of sequence without too much difficulty, but they run the risk of not enjoying the characters quite as much. 
 This was a very fine book.