Well, that ending wasn't what I expected. Somewhere in the last year I got the idea that something happened to one of the characters and I went through this whole book waiting for it, braced for it. And it didn't happen. This is good, because what I'd braced for was bad, so it was like the book ended with an extra special cherry on top.
Is it wrong that I liked the scenes with Roland? The verbal sparring, the sly repartee and dry humour - they just ended up being my favourite scenes in the book.
The Andrews' continue to mine mythology for story lines and it keeps the stories fresh and interesting. Moving out of the keep stops the clan politics from taking over the books as they'd threatened to do and I'm looking forward to seeing where all the changes end up.
My only worry at this point is this: you can only hold a threat over someone's head of doom for so long before it loses its power and impact. This holds true for the reader as well and no matter how good the writing is, the anticipation is going to wear thin.
But then again, I've heard this series might be in the home stretch; if that's true, I have nothing to worry about except having to say goodbye to these characters, and that's going to be a sad, sad day. Until then, bring on more Kate and Curran! (*cough*roland*cough*)