Well, a fitting conclusion to a tale that aimed for epic, and clearly bit much more than it could chew. 
 Once again, I leave off feeling disturbed by my lack of empathy for any of the characters, maybe except Reva. Which is strange, because the story in itself is quite thrilling, with some nice twists. 
 However, the staggering number of times I had to read that this or that army was left with only half of its numbers, and still seemed to have enough to go on got a bit irksome. 
 I also had a hard time understanding the subservience of all these mighty warriors to a young, untested, and pretty arrogant Queen. I always find it difficult to stomach the whole princess-that-so-happens-to-be-the-most-beautiful-woman-ever spiel. 
 The bad guys were really a joke. Was that all the much vaunted Ally was capable of? Much wind for nothing, if you ask me. 
 What happened to Shiren? I had hoped that this book would be the one to reunite her with Vaelin, but it seems she just got replaced by the new affair of the day. 
 All in all, a feeling of loose ends that probably will be tied up in a side story?