Windwalker

The first two book of this trilogy was really quite good, in line with the drow lore established by R. A. Salvatore and others. The previous had a definite plot, a good build-up of intrigue, and an excellent finale. The third book was quite disappointing. The plot was quite weak and story meandered throughout until it started to pick up a bit, but by then it was the finale.

I believe this third book was aimed at setting Liriel up for future adventures with her new traveling companions; to give a plausible reason on how her ties to the Underdark and House Baenre were broken, and to put an end to the threads that seemed to start tying her down away from a life of adventure. I can accept that - I just didn't like how it felt reading through it. The pace of the book was rather slow and the build-up evident in the previous two books was noticeably lacking. I was more than three-quarters through the book before it felt like things started picking up. It felt like there was a lot of filler material that didn't really matter, uncharacteristic and pointless actions (all those “forest walks” is plain ridiculous), as well unresolved issues that would really have been nice to expand on (Anya's mother for example, and that Moonstone). And just to nitpick, proof-reading issues: “Arach Tinileth” instead of the correct “Arach Tinilith”, and “Algorand” instead of the correct “Aglarond.”

I was tempted to put a single star (a shocking rating for Elaine Cunningham's work) but the redeeming factor was the finale fight. The way it was written and the way it read was very awe-inspiring and really builds up excitement just reading it. And the ending (not the cliffhanger-style resolution and epilogue) was touching and again, beautifully written. If only the earlier parts of the book were set at a more exciting pace, this third book would've made for a good ending.