Farewell to the Three Thieves

One of the most amazing things about Netgalley is when a series that I'm reading comes up there and I get a jump on my VERY REAL NEED to keep up with it.  This is what has happened with most of Scott Chantler's Three Thieves series, and I just finished the final volume, The Iron Hand, thanks again to Netgalley.

When last we left our heroes, a bunch of dramatic and spoilery things had just happened on an island, and some people had been rescued, but some tragedy had befallen our heroes.  In this final volume, we finally get our favorite characters teaming up and heading back home to set things straight.

The first six volumes set up some really complicated mysteries around Greyfalcon, and it takes a dense section of flashback monologuing for the villain's history to be laid out; not a lot of surprises there, and I'd say 15% less backstory and the equivalent more adventuring would not have been misplaced.  But that's because the adventuring is SO good--the alliances, the conspiring, the army, the siege, the intrigue!

Everything plays out, your questions are answered, and matters are resolved. A couple of things happen a bit too neatly--there is one happy ending that I would have actually changed if I could--but most of the neat resolution is exactly what you hope and expect to happen, with enough dramatic twists to keep you surprised. 

This series was really a pleasure, and I can't wait to read the last couple of volumes with my seven-year-old son!