What a Weak and Disappointing Ending to What Could Have Been a Great Series **SPOILER**

[Cristina Pupper]

**SPOILER WARNING**

I’m not trying to be a hater and know this will probably start a host of flames by all the fanboys out there, but the last book in the trilogy was a huge disappointment.

Mr. Weeks tried to do way too much in the last book, lost focus, glossed over major details, then struggled to wrap everything up in a neat little package by what seemed to be him making up crap as he went along hoping it would stick.

This is not intended to be a shot at Mr. Weeks as he is a very talented writer and I thought his first book in series was excellent. Plus I doubt he much cares what I think anyway.

But c’mon. Everyone who puts a pinky toe in Ezra’s woods gets their @ss kicked but in one evening Durzo just walks in and takes Crotch (or whatever that sword is called) without so much as a scratch or an explanation from the author.

Elaine all of the sudden figures out her love is a special kind of love and can saunter into a den of baddies and defeat a goddess? Oh wait, God told her. How convenient. Wish somebody told us.

None of the most talented magicians have been able to break wedding bonds for centuries but Vi figures it out in 30 seconds. Did God talk to her too?

Kyler who can barely use his blob of black mercury comes up with a plan to call the Hunter and have it grab a magic sword while everyone is standing in a circle jerk singing Cume Ba Ya? Yep, that’s usually how one defeats an army of darkness.

Logan’s dragon juice stains just happen to come to life 2 paragraphs after someone says “BTW, the next high king is going to have a dragon tat.” I guess that must be self explanatory since no explanation was ever provided to the reader.

Again, I’m not trying to be a hater or attack anyone. Hopefully Mr. Weeks will be able to take something from this thread and improve on future works.

[Holden Hodgdon]

#1 it IS a great series, no could-a, should-a, would-a ... IS!

#2 i didn't really like the ending my self, but i think Brent even said so himself that he had a lot of ground to cover and not enough time, but choppy endings leave room for more books so be glad for it. if everything was wrapped up in a bow and hand delivered to us by a cute little Japanese chick with pig tales there wouldn't be any more NA books, now would there? hunh! HUNH! yeah i thought so ...

#3 Durzo is a bad ass, end of story.

#4 her god did tell her ... kinda.

#5 Vi is a bad ass, end of story ... and it was kinda spur of the moment, it seems like she didn't really know it would break the earing.

#6 i think the plan was that he started luring the beast when the battle started, he was gonna off as many baddies as he could, then off himself before the beast got there, then the beast would kill everyone else that he missed.

also kylar is a bad ass too!

#7 the dragon thingy was actually quite foreshadowed, if anything it was too obvious that the next Mr. king of it all was gona have a dragon tat.

#8 oops too many #'s ....

*edit* that "crotch" thing was actually funny, i hope Brent works that into one of the next books:

Mr.evil says ( after stealing it ) "curoch is mine!"

Mr. dumb side kick #1 "why would we care if he's got the crotch?"

Mr. dumb side kick #2 "dumb ass, he's got THE curoch, not the crotch!"

Mr. dumb side kick #1 "ohhhhhh!"

[Cameron van Roon]

Why is it that when people start a post with "I'm not trying to bash the author or be a hater" they always have such a condescending, sarcastic and mocking tone?

[kickables]

this guy is a putts. logan didnt know what the burn on his arm was. all he knew that it wasnt normal

[Shadow Wolf]

You have to remember who Druzo is or was, how old he is and whom he knew, there are not many people with his kind of power, experience and knowledge. We don't know what he did to get the sword but it probably wasn't as easy as he made it out to be, so just use your imagination.

Elene did not saunter into a den of baddies, I believe she was captured on her way to help in other ways... I believe it was set up to happen and for her to realize what she need to do when she found out she was to die, remember the Wolf did communicate with her.

As for Vi figuring out the rings.... sometimes things happen in intense moments, clarity usually. Just because something was not figured out for so long dose not mean it will take that long again to figure out, if that makes sense. some of the most ingenious ideas and solutions in this world were figured out in seconds.

As for the singing bit, really, come on, you have never heard of figurative language? it was a symphony of magic, Brent used music as the best way to describe it. I did not imagine them singing.

That's the thing about prophecies, they show up when it's most convenient... how else do they get fulfilled? and his tattoo was not inactive until that moment, it just was not mentioned much and hidden. What I’d like to know is WHAT that creature was.

[Starhammer]

1. Durzo and Ezra's Wood/Curoch: Durzo is 700 years old and has more knowledge, ability and experience than anyone in the world. He is very familiar with Ezra, the Wolf, Ezra's Wood, The Dark Hunter - far more than anyone else other than Ezra himself. He had constant dealings with Ezra/the Wolf - he may even have had to go into the wood many times over the years in his dealings with Ezra. He knew how to do it and he knew that Kylar didn't so he went himself. You accept that Durzo has kept the secret of immortality, the black ka'kari and Iures for 700 years yet you can't accept that he knows how to do what he did with Curoch?

2. Elaine didn't saunter into anything nor defeat a godess - nor was Khali even actually a godess. It was a team effort, and yes Elaine thought she had a part to play and it turned out she was right. You might not like the idea of 'faith' etc, but it was a constant theme of the series.

3. Vi and the earrings: Her figuring out how to break the bond was completely set up previously. Remember the whole chapter about the previous sister who had dedicated her entire life to studying the earrings and their magic and who had figured out how they function? Sister Ariel took Vi to what remained of her work and said point blank that if one were devote the time to it one could likely piece back together her work on how to break the bond - the info was all there.

4. Kylar came up with a good plan to help defeat the enemy. He wasn't sure that it would work, but it did in conjunction with everyone else's efforts. Why exactly do you have a problem with that?

5. Logan as the high king and the magical sigil on his arm: Seriously this was foreshadowed throughout the entire series...

The creature that they battled that's blood gave him the magical rune on his arm was a Moon Dragon - that's in there too if you were paying attention.

Having said all of that I do share the opinion that the one flaw in this trilogy was that the final book needed to be longer and a bit more time taken to resolve things - but it's really only a flaw in that there isn't another book in the series coming out for quite some time. I was very surprised, given how the trilogy ended to find out that there wasn't another book on it's way soon - but in the end, once he does return to the series hopefully he does it in such a way that this is no longer an issue.

The things you pointed out however I don't agree with. I think that you simply missed a lot of details as you were reading the books and you have a problem with some of the ideas expressed in the series.

[D]

And that, my dear Watson, is the answer.

[Justin G]

It's funny to me how many people don't like the fact that there is faith in this series. I think it makes it excellent.

Anyway Well said starhammer...well said!!!!

[Cristina Pupper]

My point is that the series falls flat because the author left several gaping holes in the story related to *major* plot points. He depended on the reader to either ignore them or fill in the blanks himself. That is poor story telling period.

I can accept Durzo could enter the woods if that’s what the author says. (I kinda think it’s silly to argue what make believe characters can and can't do, considering they don't really exist.) That’s not my issue with the book. Why the book is weak/lame is because after making such a huge deal in the story about how fatal it is to go into the woods, the author completely glossed over **how** Durzo was able to get the sword. So instead the reader has ignore this glaring omission or to rationalize: “Well, Durzo is 700 years old, and he knew Ezra, and he probably had to go into the woods before, so I guess he knew a way to do it…”

Maybe the high king having a dragon tat was mentioned throughout. But there was no info given as to how a moon dragon fit into the big picture, why the dragon’s mark would come to life during that particular moment etc… Hell it would have been nice if Logan at least said “WTF just happened” but I doubt the author would want one of his own characters to acknowledge a plot hole.

I'll stop here but hopefully the author will be able to take something from this thread and improve on future works.

[Cameron van Roon]

On the point in reference to Logan's tat. I have to disagree with most of what you have said. Logan does briefly acknowledge how strange the tattoo is if I remember correctly. Of course Brent isn't going to highlight it in bright colours follow up with: "<---- REMEMBER THIS IT HAS RELEVANCE TO FUTURE EVENTS" it helps with the creation of the plentiful plot twists and surprises which I personally loved about the book (among numerous other things).

Also there is the whole matter of The High King's relative miniscule role in the books. He was hinted at a couple of times in the series and finally introduced at the end. If you think about it Brent basically exclaims: The High King is relevant to future books, not so much this one. I will explain in detail in my next Midcyru book! At the end of the book. Especially when you consider earlier events.

[89 Delta]

lol you made me laugh. I agree. It was a good book though so can't go wrong reading it, but the ending was just a little....idk.... something. Can't put my finger on it. lol... "Kyler who can barely use his blob of black mercury comes up with a plan to call the Hunter and have it grab a magic sword while everyone is standing in a circle jerk singing Cume Ba Ya? Yep, that’s usually how one defeats an army of darkness." I busted a nut reading that.

[Alex G]

I respectfully disagree.

1. First, I didn't think the ending was confusing or left gaping holes in the plot. I personally assumed Dorian was coordinating the Hunter/Mage/Curoch uber spell well in advance. If the Hunter had arrived earlier, Dorian would've set up the confrontation with Trace so that it finished earlier. Same idea if the Hunter had come later.

2. I like the fact that we readers did not see Curoch taken back out of the Ezra's Woods. This left the interior of the Woods a complete mystery, to be resolved and savored in later books. If you follow these forums, you know that Kylar's son will likely be the Guardian of Light and will need to wield Curoch. Kylar will have to figure out how to recover the sword for him, and we can read about that exciting discovery then. Same with the dragon runes on Logan's arm, etc. The whole trilogy is rife with allusions to a grand destiny, a web of prophecy driven forward by its own cosmic momentum.

3. As for Elene, she was rationalizing her own personal insights and self-actualization in terms of her own faith. Hence, "God told her" what to do. Her character was so well-developed that this should have been clear.

I assume Mr. Weeks left more open at the end of this series than is conventional because he plans to follow it up with a new book/series that expands on some of the current lingering mysteries. This is apparently unacceptable to some readers, and that's too bad. I thought the pacing and plot of the climax were perfect.

To the OP: Based on your obsession with genitalia ("Crotch", "circle jerk") and the gratuitously offensive nature of your post, I'd guess you are relatively young. You likely haven't read enough books to fully appreciate the conventions of published literature or the art of writing. Foreshadowing, etc. I'm not saying this to be offensive, but to offer constructive criticism: For now, try to read more and bash less. ;)

[Justin G]

I love the fact that Erza's woods, The Dark Hunter and the Moon Dragon are still kind of a mystery. Like it was said many times before it leaves opening for when Mr Weeks returns to the series (WHICH I TOTALLY WISH WAS RIGT MEOW, But I am excited for his new books) It also leaves room for discussion which also makes books fun. We get the change to try to solve the mysteries with clues through out the book and it leaves your imagination going.

This series had so many twist, turns, and mysteries that once I finished and read my next book, while it was good it, was predictable and simple compared to the complexity of this series. i think the NA series ruined other books for me haha.