I don't know that I have a lot to say, now that I've finished this trilogy. To echo what Kay himself says in the afterword of this edition, I kind of just want to let the books speak for themselves. I have some things to say, but most should be experienced firsthand, I think, so I won't say much.

As I expected, this trilogy did become more epic as it went on, culminating, of course, in that ubiquitous-to-fantasy climactic battle between good and evil. It got epic, but it stayed personal as well. Each personal story was woven so skillfully around each other and around the overarching story that it was truly a joy to read, even as I cried at certain deaths.

I do have to go back to that afterword, though, as it made me respect Kay even more. In the afterword, he talks about how he's often been encouraged to write a fourth book in this series, and I have to intensely respect him for not doing so. Here's a man who not only writes a beautiful epic, but he takes up fewer than 1000 pages to do so, and cuts no corners to do so. Furthermore, despite an obvious audience for more, he respects his own story and characters enough to know that it's done, and doesn't feel it necessary to tack on some lame addendum, just to, basically, make more money off it. At the end of his afterword, he thanks his readers, but I feel I must thank him. As I mentioned in my review of book 1, this is a story that is simple and complex all at the same time, and is truly beautiful. Anything more I say would only take away from it.