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erratic's review against another edition
5.0
Πενταρι γεμάτο και μεγάλο όσο και το Δάσος του Πενταραν.
With this book the Fionavar Tapestry ends. I have read many series and most of them do not have a worthy end. Fionavar definately has one. The Darkest Road, in similar way with the previous 2 books, is full of strong scenes, beautifuly written. Ι dont want to spoil things but there are some passages that are now curved in me. The incredible duel and its aftermath that takes place before the final battle. Probably the best and most epic duel I have read in fiction. Galadan and the horn. The departure of a certain Lios Alfar. The lonely and insane journey of Darien. Finn. Paul and Jaelle. The divine presences. So many things. This world is full of beauty, strong fates, responsibilities, duties, pain, sorrow, sacrifices and absolutions.
It was the closest I have read to Middle Earth and Silmarillion and that says a lot for me. Its not for people who are bored of this kind of romantic idealistic epic fantasy. But If you feel a longing and a nostalgia for that kind of books then Fionavar is the perfect place for you!
With this book the Fionavar Tapestry ends. I have read many series and most of them do not have a worthy end. Fionavar definately has one. The Darkest Road, in similar way with the previous 2 books, is full of strong scenes, beautifuly written. Ι dont want to spoil things but there are some passages that are now curved in me. The incredible duel and its aftermath that takes place before the final battle. Probably the best and most epic duel I have read in fiction. Galadan and the horn. The departure of a certain Lios Alfar. The lonely and insane journey of Darien. Finn. Paul and Jaelle. The divine presences. So many things. This world is full of beauty, strong fates, responsibilities, duties, pain, sorrow, sacrifices and absolutions.
It was the closest I have read to Middle Earth and Silmarillion and that says a lot for me. Its not for people who are bored of this kind of romantic idealistic epic fantasy. But If you feel a longing and a nostalgia for that kind of books then Fionavar is the perfect place for you!
miamaria's review against another edition
5.0
Sista boken i serien om Fionavar. Inte alltid bra med omläsningar, vet vad som ska hända och kan sitta med tårar i ögonen en stund innan det händer. Har nog blivit mer sedan barnen föddes, men en hel del tårar i denna sista del.
miamaria's review against another edition
4.0
Glömde skriva att jag läst ut denna också. Sista delen i Fionavars vävnad. Som tur är så kan man läsa om böcker så att berättelsen trots allt inte tar slut. En av mina favoriter i fantasyhyllan :)
genarti's review against another edition
4.0
The third and, in my opinion, the strongest of the Fionavar series, for the simple reason that GGK can write a climax of multiple plot threads like nobody's business.
This isn't to say that this book is flawless, of course. As in the rest of the series, GGK occasionally waxes pretentious on his characters' behalf (which they can do just fine without his help), forgets that the seventh time a supposedly stoic character weeps in as many days it takes away some of the emotional power of the scene (weeping is fine; asking us to find it just as overwhelmingly heartbreaking every time isn't), and is way too emotionally invested in epic love triangles, and in having everyone find them the SADDEST THING EVER, including characters who have experienced much more awful things in their lives. To counterbalance that, though, he writes some genuinely beautiful moments and some genuinely original twists on the standard tropes of epic Eurofantasy. This series has one of my favorite twists on the "Elves sailing to the West" trope (redeeming, for me, the otherwise pointless lios alfar), and some fun uses of the aforementioned epic love triangle (Arthurian, no less). GGK writes engaging characters, when he's not masking that with pompousness about their pain, and for all my mostly affectionate mocking of this series, the last half of this book is when everything starts coming together in a tumbling rush of resolving plot, and I remember how worth it the payoff is. This is no Lord of the Rings, and very deliberately not, but it's a lot of fun as a quick-reading fantasy trilogy.
(Warnings for triggers about rape and rape survival, but that's mostly in the first and second books, so it seems a bit silly to mention it here. I don't plan to go back and review all three, though, so I'll do it anyway.)
This isn't to say that this book is flawless, of course. As in the rest of the series, GGK occasionally waxes pretentious on his characters' behalf (which they can do just fine without his help), forgets that the seventh time a supposedly stoic character weeps in as many days it takes away some of the emotional power of the scene (weeping is fine; asking us to find it just as overwhelmingly heartbreaking every time isn't), and is way too emotionally invested in epic love triangles, and in having everyone find them the SADDEST THING EVER, including characters who have experienced much more awful things in their lives. To counterbalance that, though, he writes some genuinely beautiful moments and some genuinely original twists on the standard tropes of epic Eurofantasy. This series has one of my favorite twists on the "Elves sailing to the West" trope (redeeming, for me, the otherwise pointless lios alfar), and some fun uses of the aforementioned epic love triangle (Arthurian, no less). GGK writes engaging characters, when he's not masking that with pompousness about their pain, and for all my mostly affectionate mocking of this series, the last half of this book is when everything starts coming together in a tumbling rush of resolving plot, and I remember how worth it the payoff is. This is no Lord of the Rings, and very deliberately not, but it's a lot of fun as a quick-reading fantasy trilogy.
(Warnings for triggers about rape and rape survival, but that's mostly in the first and second books, so it seems a bit silly to mention it here. I don't plan to go back and review all three, though, so I'll do it anyway.)
authrcatlabadie's review against another edition
3.0
Sigh. An ending, but too long coming. I found the overall Camelot theme annoying as well.
kylieqrada's review against another edition
5.0
This conclusion to the Fionavar Tapestry pulled the series as a whole up to a 5 ⭐ for me. I loved everything about this. The plot was insanely engaging, with little to no dragging points. The characters, whom I have loved and adored since the first book, got 10x better in this one, and MY HEART. Plus, although it took me 2 books to get into it, I kinda dig GGK's prose. It's like Tolkien lite almost. So glad I picked up this OG fantasy series.
kukushka's review against another edition
4.0
In the final book of the Fionavar Tapestry, the armies of the Light and Dark meet at last in Andarian.
In the final book, some of the problems have been corrected. The disjointed tone of the five modern Canadians in a high fantasy setting has been done away with - all five Canadians have thoroughly adopted the local way of speaking.
Of course, the high fantasy lingo is its own problem. Kay's prose gets described as "poetic" and "lyrical," which basically seems to mean that Kay uses a thesaurus when a perfectly common word would have sufficed, and he mangles sentence flow. See exhibit A: "For a long time Coll of Taerlindel at the helm of his ship had fought the wind" (p.126).
I'm not a fan of the high fantasy lingo, but I can deal with it as long as it isn't too excessive. Kay teeters at the line.
My other big complaint about the book (and, really, the series in general) is that the stated scope of the story is so large - not only is the whole world at stake, but all other worlds as well! - and yet the geography is so small. Characters get from one end of a country to another in a day or two on horseback, and there are only a handful of countries to begin with (and only two that feel more substantial than a handful of hamlets, both with only one proper city each). Even so, Kay seems so disturbed by distance and travel time that he's still given half the main characters the ability to teleport.
The scope problem extends even further. Despite Fionavar being the template upon which all other worlds are patterned, it is incredibly European. The Cathal have an orientalism to them, but most of the mythology Kay uses has a very western/northern European flavour to it.
The worst part about these issues is that they could have been so easily avoided. Doing away with the "through the wardrobe" trope would have solved a lot of the tone issues. Having the world of Fionavar, and its conflicts, matter for them own sakes rather than going on about the pattern on which all other worlds are based would have solved most of the scale issues. But that would require Kay to trust in his own narrative, and to trust that his Canadian readers could care about non-Canadian characters.
But all of my whining has to do with the series as a whole. On its own, The Darkest Road is actually pretty okay. I enjoyed seeing how all the various plot threads resolved themselves, and there were quite a few very satisfying payoffs. Had Kay dumped the "through the wardrobe" trope and condensed the narrative into a single book, I could have overlooked many of the story's other issues.
In the final book, some of the problems have been corrected. The disjointed tone of the five modern Canadians in a high fantasy setting has been done away with - all five Canadians have thoroughly adopted the local way of speaking.
Of course, the high fantasy lingo is its own problem. Kay's prose gets described as "poetic" and "lyrical," which basically seems to mean that Kay uses a thesaurus when a perfectly common word would have sufficed, and he mangles sentence flow. See exhibit A: "For a long time Coll of Taerlindel at the helm of his ship had fought the wind" (p.126).
I'm not a fan of the high fantasy lingo, but I can deal with it as long as it isn't too excessive. Kay teeters at the line.
My other big complaint about the book (and, really, the series in general) is that the stated scope of the story is so large - not only is the whole world at stake, but all other worlds as well! - and yet the geography is so small. Characters get from one end of a country to another in a day or two on horseback, and there are only a handful of countries to begin with (and only two that feel more substantial than a handful of hamlets, both with only one proper city each). Even so, Kay seems so disturbed by distance and travel time that he's still given half the main characters the ability to teleport.
The scope problem extends even further. Despite Fionavar being the template upon which all other worlds are patterned, it is incredibly European. The Cathal have an orientalism to them, but most of the mythology Kay uses has a very western/northern European flavour to it.
The worst part about these issues is that they could have been so easily avoided. Doing away with the "through the wardrobe" trope would have solved a lot of the tone issues. Having the world of Fionavar, and its conflicts, matter for them own sakes rather than going on about the pattern on which all other worlds are based would have solved most of the scale issues. But that would require Kay to trust in his own narrative, and to trust that his Canadian readers could care about non-Canadian characters.
But all of my whining has to do with the series as a whole. On its own, The Darkest Road is actually pretty okay. I enjoyed seeing how all the various plot threads resolved themselves, and there were quite a few very satisfying payoffs. Had Kay dumped the "through the wardrobe" trope and condensed the narrative into a single book, I could have overlooked many of the story's other issues.
book_grinch's review against another edition
5.0
This used to be one of my all time favorite books...in long..distant times, where fantasy was rare and scarce(positive person that i am, i'm hoping it still continues so when i re-read it!)
Of course, come to think about it, there was a lot of:
OM MY GOD!! NO!! YOU DIDN'T!!
WHERE'S THE ROMANCE THAT I WAS EXPECTING BETWEEN TWO OF THE CHARACTERS???
Honestly i was totally expecting it, and in the end there was nothing between them!!
NO, DON'T DIE!!
_______________
_______________
______________-
NO, NOT YOU TOO!! *sobs uncontrollably*
Comes to the last page:
REALLY, YOU'RE IN LOVE???
Ah okay....i just thought you hated one another....
Of course, come to think about it, there was a lot of:
OM MY GOD!! NO!! YOU DIDN'T!!
WHERE'S THE ROMANCE THAT I WAS EXPECTING BETWEEN TWO OF THE CHARACTERS???
Honestly i was totally expecting it, and in the end there was nothing between them!!
NO, DON'T DIE!!
______________________________
______________-
NO, NOT YOU TOO!! *sobs uncontrollably*
Comes to the last page:
REALLY, YOU'RE IN LOVE???
Ah okay....i just thought you hated one another....