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A review by trish204
Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell
4.0
As the title suggests, this is it!
Judith is gone and Finn ... exploded (at the end of the previous book)! So now Autumn and Lizzy are scrambling to protect the town. Granted, it's a little bit better now that many have been rained on and therefore see some of the magic (making them more likely to listen to their new wise woman).
But then the enemy is coming. Fairies ... or are they? Because the King (Finn's father) is not with them. Instead, something that looks to Lizzy (a Reverend) like an angel. Well, we know of at least one from Christian mythology that might have had wings but wasn't QUITE what Christians had wanted him to be. *snickers*
It's all about herd mentality vs. individualism and self-reliance, being gullible vs being informed and brave, old and new knowledge coming together to form something that hasn't been before.
There is also a message or two from Judith that had me whooping and we finally find out what Cummings was/is.
We learn of other realms, of history (in a way), of treaties and how the borders / walls had been put up for protection. Other than that, it's pretty much a straight forward conflict between the sides (incl. a nice examination of Cummings and his "boss" and how they were doing what they were doing that, of course, has its basis in our political reality) but with relatively little actual fighting (think action movie) and more moves and counter-moves. We can't all be superheroes after all. Though there were a few very satisfying explosions. Muahahahahahaha!
As much as I've mourned Judith, I liked the character progression and. Just like some funny literary references, some of which had me chuckling quite a bit. Moreover, the split-up story paths with quest being one, was making this finale even more fast-paced.
Overall, I'm quite happy with this little series. I generally like stories about witches and ones that are a bit different, though not all. I liked that there wasn't any wand-waving or too much spell-casting, that it was more nature stuff and knowledge and being clever. Made for a nice, more realism-based change.
Judith is gone and Finn ... exploded (at the end of the previous book)! So now Autumn and Lizzy are scrambling to protect the town. Granted, it's a little bit better now that many have been rained on and therefore see some of the magic (making them more likely to listen to their new wise woman).
But then the enemy is coming. Fairies ... or are they? Because the King (Finn's father) is not with them. Instead, something that looks to Lizzy (a Reverend) like an angel. Well, we know of at least one from Christian mythology that might have had wings but wasn't QUITE what Christians had wanted him to be. *snickers*
It's all about herd mentality vs. individualism and self-reliance, being gullible vs being informed and brave, old and new knowledge coming together to form something that hasn't been before.
There is also a message or two from Judith that had me whooping and we finally find out what Cummings was/is.
We learn of other realms, of history (in a way), of treaties and how the borders / walls had been put up for protection. Other than that, it's pretty much a straight forward conflict between the sides (incl. a nice examination of Cummings and his "boss" and how they were doing what they were doing that, of course, has its basis in our political reality) but with relatively little actual fighting (think action movie) and more moves and counter-moves. We can't all be superheroes after all. Though there were a few very satisfying explosions. Muahahahahahaha!
As much as I've mourned Judith, I liked the character progression and
Spoiler
Zorya entering the picture, becoming part of the covenSpoiler
Autumn'sOverall, I'm quite happy with this little series. I generally like stories about witches and ones that are a bit different, though not all. I liked that there wasn't any wand-waving or too much spell-casting, that it was more nature stuff and knowledge and being clever. Made for a nice, more realism-based change.