When we last left Faraine and King Vor, she had just saved his city of Mythanar from wild bands of cave devils, infected with raog poison, which drove them murderously mad. While the losses were still tremendous, the bulk of the population was preserved when Faraine tapped into her power using the ancient Urzulhar Circle of stones, but she paid a terrible price. However, even though his city was reeling after the attack, Vor swept up Faraine and took him the only place he could in a desperate bid to save her - his mother, Maylin, who abandoned Vor and the Under Realm when he was but a child.
Save Faraine she does, but at great cost to everyone involved. Faraine appears to be resurrected, but only after undergoing an excruciating process which also seems to have reduced her gods-gift to nearly nothing. There's also a non-specified blood cost to be paid, but Maylin was vague on who exactly would pay it.
On the upside, Faraine is back and she and Vor have solidified their relationship and consummated their marriage, which is great for them, but it means the pact with King Larongar is sealed and now, Vor and his men must go fight for the humans. Prince Ruvaen is getting more daring and is even now attacking the Citadel, where the Miphates train, so Vor must rally the troops, leaving Faraine weakened without her powers and unsure of her place in the kingdom.
Fortunately/unfortunately, Maylin is around and she wants to train Faraine to grow more powerful and tap even further into the power of the stones, if she is willing to learn. The dragon far below the Under Realm is stirring more and more each day, with Mythanar and the cities surrounding her falling into ruin. If the dragon isn't stopped, the entire realm and the world above it will be devoured and everyone will die. Maylin is convinced that Faraine is the Kurspari-glur, the Woman of Crystals spoken of in ancient prophecy that can defeat Aaraog, but then again, back in Maylin's day, they thought she was the one too... and she failed.
While Faraine is busy learning how to materialize a razor-sharp crystal shell around her body to protect herself from what may come, Vor could certainly use a bit of extra armor in his fight for the Citadel. Not only do they lose a handful of powerful trolde warriors on the journey to the Citadel when a deadly but ephemeral entity called black lightning blitz-attacks members of their group, but, once they arrive, they battle Licornyn Riders, along with hobgoblins, lancers, mercs, Cyclopi and hundreds of foot soldiers high on a rage drug called Demon Kiss. While no match for the strength of the trolde in general, the enemies deliver some devastating losses nonetheless. There's also a shocking revelation that will shake Vor to the core and alter his pact with tricky King Larongar.
This is the longest book in the series, but let's be real, there's a lot to wrap up and cover. While I enjoyed it the least of the set, I was glad to see how things resolved and played out. It was also very interesting to hear Maylin's backstory from her perspective as she is telling it to Faraine. There are a few loose ends here and there, and there are some things I wish had been better explained or explored, such as black lightning, but over all, it's a good ending to the tale of Vor and Faraine. There's a redemption story or two, plus an unlikely happy ending for a pair other than Vor and Faraine, at least once you read the additional content, but there's some heartbreaking stuff as well. Overall, it's a solid finale for a good romantasy series.
