It has been a while since I promised to take a look at this one. Long story short, it took me ages and ages to find a copy online which matches my editions of books one and two. At one point I ordered one but they sent me the wrong edition, so I ended up returning it. It was a whole ordeal but I've now finally got a matched set, by buying this (correct) edition of The Mage secondhand.
Anyways, let's finish the trilogy, spoilers ahead.
Now adept in foxcraft, Isla travels to the Snowlands where the wolves live in order to hopefully free her brother Pirie from the Mage. But when there she gets swept up in the local wolf politics, coming to the aid of her old friend Farraclaw. Yet she doesn't forget about her quest, and eventually she travels back to the Wildlands, where she'll have to face old enemies and eventually none other than the Mage himself.
Overall I think this is the strongest installment yet. Book two was already pretty darn good, but this one I just liked a tad more. A large aspect of that is the chapters which take place in the Snowlands, basically the first half of the book. There, Isla meets with Farraclaw and his Bishar (pack) and helps them in a situation where their leader is thought to have gone insane, and rival Bishars are looking to take advantage of this. She aids them in freeing the wolf king's mind (turns out he'd been pleached by a black fox known as Métis and they'd gotten stuck like that). But the wolf king (Birronclaw) eventually still passes and Farraclaw become the new pack leader.
This section of the book was definitely the one I was the most into. Part of that can be blamed on the fact that I just really like wolves. But also because I think it was very intricately written, there's so much lore and pack customs in the Bishar we learn about, and it's all rather different because so far Isla has mainly been learning about foxcraft and fox customs, with her being a fox herself, obviously. The concept of Métis and his pleached state with Birronclaw was also rather interesting and I really liked Métis as a new addition to the cast. But my main reason for liking this section the most is because of Lop, a side character who is definitely one of my faves in the entire series, and Farraclaw, who just has the most genuine friendship with Isla and it's just so sweet. They have great chemistry here, even better than in book one, and it's all just very wholesome how they're willing to go above and beyond for the other even if they're from very different walks of life.
The second section of the book, the one in the Wildlands where they take on the Mage and his forces, isn't bad by any means, by the way, but the Snowlands really were the highlight of the book for me. Still, the second section was also quite good and it was nice to see some old favorites like Tao, Simmi and Haiki again. Haiki's arc is really completed by this book and ultimately he does die, but it was nice to see him at least somewhat reconcile with Isla and Siffrin after his betrayal last book.
My main criticism for the last part of the book though, particularly the climax, is that it feels a bit underwhelming and rushed. Especially the part where we actually meet the Mage for the first time. This is what three books have been building up to, and it's all over very, very fast. Sure, it's nice to see our Big Bad defeated, but it barely has any "oomph" to it because of how fast it all goes. The defeat's concept is interesting, and I like the idea of the White Fox and all, but again, just because it goes by so fast it doesn't leave the impact it really should. I also wish we could've gotten to see a little bit more of the Mage before the final battle, because this also adds to him not leaving much of a direct impact on the reader. We mostly hear about him in these three books through others talking about him, but we barely even get to spend any time with the villain himself here.
Also, sorry, this is a brief tangent but I just don't buy Isla and Siffrin as a romantic couple at all. They do have some chemistry, but none of it really came off as romantic to me. They more so seemed like just friends or a mentor-apperentice, so them being implied to become an item here just comes a bit out of left field. I don't ship it.
Overall this was a good conclusion to the series, though. I do wish the final battle could've left a bit more of an impact on me and wasn't as rushed, but this was still a satisfying conclusion for me. Any shortcomings of the last half of the book are more than made up for by the Snowlands section.
Rating: 4/5
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