When I cracked open the fifth installment of the Pillars of Reality series I was hoping to get a satisfying conclusion that The Pirates of Pacta Servanda did not give me. Hiwever I did not get that satisfying conclusion I had been looking for with the fourth installment. Knowing that there was one more book in the series, I’m hopful that he wrapps up all of the loose threads, but that will be addressed once I complete the last beek in the series. For now I will talk about the middle of this conluding trilogy. And frankly that is what the book feels like. The events that began when Master Mechanic Mari headed for Tiae, were simmered long over the fire of the coming storm untill they begin to bubble over.
Having begun to restore the country of Tiae, Marie and Alain quickly realise that the banned texts they were forced to leave in Marandur, after the events of Book 2, are in danger and they must go back to recover them all in order to save the knowldge for the world. Both the Master Mechanics and the Empire would keep them for their own purposes rather than share, the problem is the city of Marandur lays in the heart of the Empire and just as before no one is allowed to enter. The mages and mechanics must work together in an effort to solve the problem and triumph.
As with each installment so far the characters are real, even the mages, and the plot moves at a good pace. I truely look forward to the last installment of this series to see how the adventures of Master Mechanic Mari and Mage Alain end.