In less than a month, I’ve read the Bond of the Dragon series, starting with Zahara’s gift, from its start to end. So, how’s the last book like? A lot like the third…

The third book ended leaning towards a good end that bore a foreboding sense that it’s a trap, and thus a twist for the worse – but that’s quite typical turn before the final battle, because it can’t be easy, right?

And so, the fourth book starts on a low note as all the nations that need to band against Merglan are scattered and trying to come together for the final battle.

Merglan himself gets little space – a few scenes as he tries to harness the ‘true source of magic’ as said by the description – but this is one of the major flaws of this book: there’s very little said about what exactly that is. Sure, there are good hints that it’d make him even more powerful and all that stuff… but there isn’t much about why he needs/wants it so much and how much powerful might that make him.

In a comparison, there’s a reason why Voldemort wanted the Elder Wand in Harry Potter, or the importance of the ‘name of names’ in Eragon. This is something I’ve been missing, something that’d make me wonder what, exactly, would happen if he got his hands on it.

Eventually, the forces come together, and start putting some desperate plan together. There’s a lot of improvisation (such as in trying to show some people how to use the crystals) and some surprises. And while there’s stuff happening over the book, it all comes down for the final showdown – a large-scale battle that, in my opinion, found a decent balance (in a way that it’s no unrealistic that everyone survives, but the casualties among major characters are not way too many either).

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Read date: 30.8.-3.9.2020
Published: 24.3.2020
Goodreads/Amazon links (too few ratings still)
My rating: 85%
Length: 514 pages (Kindle edition)
My highlights

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To wrap this up, I quite enjoyed this series – the fact I’ve read the ~1700 pages in three weeks should be a proof. As said, I think some parts of the story could’ve been given more attention, especially in the last two books. And the ending is done in a way that stays positive without being unrealistic – a plus, for sure.