I thought we would be done with Sacred Valley after the events of the last book, but it turns out that those were just set up for this one. The gang is back in Sacred Valley, this time delving into the Labyrinth beneath, a dangerous place full of ancient powers and relics. The lure of the Soulsmith knowledge buried within is enough to convince Lindon and Eithan to take the risk, but the fact that Reigan Shen is already in there makes it a priority for everyone. Shen is there hoping to become immortal by turning himself into a Dreadgod and he must be stopped before it happens. At the same time, the Abidan are waging war in the heavens also trying to save Cradle, and the time finally comes for both series of events to finally come together in a big reveal.

Although the explanation of the relationship between the Monarchs, the Dreadgods, and hunger aura all felt a little weak to me, the combining of the events occurring in the Abidan's war and those on Cradle made up for it. It has always been a little difficult for me to properly sort out the Abidan related stories sprinkled throughout the books, and they always felt a bit meaningless until now. This book has two big endings contained within, one to Reigan Shen's ambitions, which has big implications for Lindon, and one for the Abidan war, which has big implications for Eithan. This was an excellent entry in the series but I am starting to worry about the future of the series. I am getting similar vibes to Sanderson where his desire to bring his bigger vision of the Cosmere just makes The Stormlight Archives less interesting because it dilutes the characters and world I fell in love with. I worry the same happen here with Cradle and the Abidan, but there is only way to find out - on to the next book in the series.

Travis Baldree continues to be excellent and frankly if they changed narrators it would destroy the audiobook version of this series.