The first half of Enchanter's Endgame is very dull--sometimes extremely so. But the second half of the book, when the battles get started and Kal Torak finally wakes, is perhaps the most exciting part of the series so far.

The problem with the first half of the book is that it pursues two equally uninspiring storylines. Ce'Nedra's attempts at military mobilization are dull and confusing; far too many kings discuss far too much pseudo-military strategy for my tastes. Garion's journeys also recall to mind the dull wandering of the first two books. Back then the boredom had been relieved by how interesting the characters were. Now, without so many interesting characters around, I found that the wandering itself was not enough to sustain my interest (as I had always suspected).

However, the second half of the book is great, and almost worth suffering through the first half for.

I will have to say, though, that the epilogue is a little self-indulgent. While it does wrap up just about every loose end in the series, it's also too long--fully a tenth of the book! Also, the epilogue showcases Eddings's inability to have anything bad happen to his characters. It does end up with everybody mostly happy, though, which I suppose is a good thing.

Over all, this is a fitting conclusion for the series, and I was sorry to leave these characters behind.

Copyright © 2001 Steven Wu