Steles of the Sky

Reviewing the final book of a series is always a strange affair. There's the need to not repeat too much from the previous reviews, and the need to avoid spoiling anything for those who still haven't read the earlier books. Plus the review should be interesting for both those who have and those who haven't read what came before.

I'm taking the easy way out, and opt for a rather short write-up. Should you decide to just skim this review, no problemo, but please, don't miss the quote near the end.

Steles Of The Sky is the sequel to Shattered Pillars -- one of the best books I read in 2015 -- and the last book of the Eternal Sky trilogy. Together they form one long story that needs to be read in order. It is set on something "resembling the steppes, deserts and mountain ranges of Eurasia after the death of Genghis Khan" I wrote in the review of Range Of Ghosts, but that needs a caveat: Steles features a riffle, and that adds a bit of 19th century flavor. This one riffle doesn't appear out of place at all, and that fact that it's even in the book shows Bear's willingness to take a chance, and her restraint too. In the hands of a lesser writer, the riffle would have turned entire chapters of the book into something steampunkish, out of the fashionable need to explicitely blend genres.

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Please read the full review on Weighing A Pig...