Wintersteel certainly held it's own as a solid addition to the series, despite at times it not having quite the same momentum as other instalments. It had some of the biggest wins of the entire series, with truly great individual moments - but it was the connection between those moments that felt a little choppy. 

It's always satisfying when characters need to personally grow in order to also grow more powerful - and Wight was able to weave those two together many times over in Wintersteel. Added to this was some of the best written combat he's done so far. Further still, we arguably learned more about the world and magic of Cradle than in any other book so far. Where the series may end up is getting clearer and clearer - as is the future of our protagonists.  However, there was a weird amount of jumping around in the narrative and drastic pacing changes. So while I'll look back at the events of Book 8 with some of the greatest fondness, the actual reading experience itself wasn't as enjoyable as some of the other books.