Hand of Fire: Shandril's Saga, Book III

This book wraps up the trilogy and almost ends on a high note, then doesn't. I was kind of surprised Greenwood decided to end the trilogy this way, but Oh, well, it's his book! I just wished things had turned out better. I don't want to spoil anything about the book, but it's my favorite of the trilogy. And I'm sad to say, it's because of all the secondary characters that I really liked this book. Especially Storm Silverhand, the ranger/harper. I like female heroines, and Storm is by far the most interesting character in this book. I wish it had been more about her instead, but she was in it enough to make it worthwhile. And Mirt the moneylender is another good character. He and Storm made this book so much better. By the time the end of this book rolled around, Storm was my favorite character though, far overshadowing Shandril. Storm just kicks butt, takes names, and does it all while still maintaining her feminine sexuality; as perfect a balance in a character as I've seen, and now I'm on the lookout for any books featuring her in any major capacity. I just hope they're as good as the part she played in this book. It seems rare to see such a powerful character that is also an object of desire. Most authors don't get it right for some reason, but Ed Greenwood did. Plenty of spell battles, fighting, and some of the funniest dialogue between fantasy characters I've come across - and very entertaining and magical as well. Overall this series is great. I can't say I like the ending to the 3rd book, but it's definitely worth rereading the entire series - especially book 3, Hand of Fire.

The Shandril Shessair Spellfire novels were hopefully going to be a wonderful story of triumph over the face of overwhelming adversity but instead this book essentially writes the idea that perhaps no matter how much one struggles, there are some battles that cannot be one. I felt Ed Greenwood improved tremendously with this book from the previous ones....truly an excellent work.