The Singing

Today’s post is on “The Singing” by Alison Croggon and it is the last volume in the Pellinor quartet. It is 470 including notes and appendixes and it has maps so the reader can follow Maered and Hem’s journeys. The cover has Maered and Hem on looking at the reader with her harp in her arm and Hem’s tuning fork around his neck. It is published by Candlewick Press. The intended reader is young adult but anyone who loves high fantasy and sword and sorcery books will love this series. There is violence in this book but nothing more than any of the others in the series so parents need not worry. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- This breathtaking final volume of the Pellinor epic follows the separate journeys of Maered and Hem as they desperately seek each other out in a battle-ravaged land. With the Black Army advancing north, all Seven Kingdoms of Annar are on the brink of defeat. Reports are dire on every front- and the way is fraught with bloodshed, betrayal, and, for Maered, horrifying visions. But brother and sister share an unshakable resolve. Together they possess the secret to the mysterious Singing. Prophecy holds that, as one, they can release the powerful ancient music of the Elementals and defeat the Nameless One and the accumulating forces of the Dark. But will they find each other in time?
Alison Croggon masterfully fulfills the promise of the first three books in a startling, richly satisfying conclusion to an acclaimed quartet.

Review- This is a strong ending novel. Almost all questions are answered and the ones that are not are more character histories that we just do not get to see. I really enjoyed this book and this series. The characters are interesting and the final character movements are fun and I did not see them coming. I expected at least one of the main characters to die but Croggon saves everyone in the end and that was very nice. This has been a very dark YA series and I was expecting a dark ending but Croggon pulls it out and it is wonderful. I was so glad that Maered, Hem, Cadvan, and everyone else makes it. She leaves it open to go back to this world and tell more stories with this characters. I hope she does. There are not plot holes, not one dropped, nothing to pull you out of the story. The darkness in this one is not as bad as The Riddle, more like The Crow, and so it does not overwhelm the reader with it. The final image of Maered and Hem releasing the song back into the world moved me to tears. The notes at the end of give us some information about the characters after the end of the novels and I hope that Croggon goes back and tells us more than that. I know that she is working on a new story in this world and it follows Cadvan but I hope for more.

I give this one Five out of Five Stars. I get nothing for this review and I bought this book with my own little money.