I am enjoying this series, but I am finding less and less to say about it, especially the plot — especially given I am not a real plot person when it comes down to it (at least not in terms of something I care that much about for reviews). So I guess look at my other reviews for that stuff.
In terms of this being either the third part of a four part book series, or just the third act of a long book (and I am not sure which matters), it’s interesting to look at both how the books follow a kind of cycle, while also pushing forward a longer narrative. And both are happening here as well. For the cycles, we have some new Malice that needs killing, some set of farmers that needs something, and some set of new issues that arise. In terms of the longer narrative, we have our protagonists moving from Meeting – Book One, through Going Back to the husband’s people – Book Two, Returning to the Wife’s Family – Book Three and I guess I’ll see for Book Four. In addition we have the ways in which Fawn has pulled Dag into the wider world out of his more vaunted place. The Lakewalkers, while noble in their pursuits also act fairly elitist in their worldview. Because they are protecting farmers, they’re virtuous to a large extent, but their secrecy and their elitism cause tension and conflict. So Dag opening up the world of Lakewalkers is a necessary step into bringing the farmers into the wider world as well.
The cycle parts of the story are reminders that this is a life of duty, not necessarily one of event. So the battling of Malices until either you die from it, retire from it, or move on from it is always going to be cyclical, as most of our lives also have. So it’s interesting way of looking at like seasons in this way.
(Photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2112904.Passage)