Actual rating: 2.5 stars. Because I'm in a good mood today. Then again maybe not. We'll see how long this rating lasts. ← not very long, obviously. There is a very slight chance that I might possibly feel a teensy little bit pissed off right now. Not much, though. Just feeling a tad homicidal, that is all. Why, you ask? Because this one of the most disappointing so-called final instalments in the history of so-called final instalments. Okay, so it wasn't as bad as the Sirantha Jax Disaster of Epic Proportions (SJDoEP™), but it still hurt like a bitch. So much so that I had to visit the family physician, Dr Prawn, after I finished reading this mess of an alleged conclusion to this series. Yes, I am feeling a bit better now, thank you very much for asking. I am still in a somewhat murderous mood, but I am afraid it cannot be helped, as I was kinda sorta born that way. But I slightly digress. You want to know what the problem with this book is? It's that, after keeping the readers forever speculating about this world and the possible outcomes to the many sub-plots in the story, Moore does the Poof, Gone Thing (PGT™): lots of action, lots of stuff going on, lots of unexpected (or not) developments, lots of build-up and then, in a matter of a couple of pages, it's all…Poof! Gone! War over! Book finished! Bye bye, silly readers, that's all the stupid non-resolution you'll get! Back to your meaningless little lives you go! Seriously, Mr Moore?! What the bloody shrimp is this?! No, don't bother answering that question, I'll tell you exactly what it is: it is the most abrupt, senseless, frustrating, disappointing, anti-climactic non-ending in the history of abrupt, senseless, frustrating, disappointing, anti-climactic non-endings. Uh-oh, I'm afraid the effect of Dr Prawn's Wondrous Simmer Down Shot (WSDS™) is wearing off. It doesn't bode well for the future of this book's rating. All that glorious, migraine-inducing speculating was for naught. 99% of the reader's questions are left unanswered. Very little is resolved. And with that many loose ends and such an open ending, you want me to believe this the final instalment in this series? Who do you take me for, a harebrained barnacle? ← no offense, my Little Ones, this is just a figure of speech. I think. I might have been more lenient with my rating (view spoiler)[that's total bullshit, but it never hurts to pretend to be kind once in a while, right? Right (hide spoiler)], had the rest of the book made up for the moderately infuriating ending. But it didn't, so I wasn't. I mean, I'm all for battles and blood and gore and stuff, but mass slaughter kind of gets old after a while. Plus, my Dream Team of Utter Awesomeness (DToUA™) greatly disappointed here, and turned into the Decaf Bunch of Unmitigated Dullness (DBoUD™). Makes me think I should have rooted for Team Religious Freaks (TRF™), aka the Sa'ba Taalor. At least these guys know how to win/lose/whatever in style. And they would never rely on a giggling idiot to solve their last-minute problems, either. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, DBoUD™! ► And the moral of this Dr Prawn Keeps Telling Me I Need to Watch my Blood Pressure but if I Keep Reading Books Like this One I'm Doomed Crappy Non Review (DPKTMINtWmBPbiIKRBLtOIDCNR™) is: this could have been one of my favourite Fantasy series ever. Emphasis on "could." Ha. · Book 1: Seven Forges ★★★★ · Book 2: The Blasted Lands ★★★★ · Book 3: City of Wonders ★★★★