Prior to this finale, the scope of the Library Trilogy has been continually increasing, consistently adding new characters and races, then spanning worlds, and even spanning multiple timelines. All part of a rather brutal and bloody conflict, the latest chapter of an eternal war over the right to share knowledge. The time spanning library at the center of this battle has made for a unique backdrop, and three different factions have been built up all striving for different outcomes. There are those who want to preserve the library and ensure that the knowledge within it remains freely accessible to all, there are those that want to destroy it and force the knowledge to be properly earned rather than given, and there is the middle ground that want to preserve the library and make the knowledge available in a more controlled way. So did all this set up from the first two books adequately set the stage for this grand finale where we ultimately learn the outcome of this eternal battle?

The first book of this series focused on the relationship between the two main PoV characters, Livira and Evar, and the conflict between their respective races. Eventually that became intermingled with the eternal conflict taking place within the library itself and things got complicated. The trend of continually expanding the scope continues here and this book starts by introducing two new characters at an unknown point in the timeline of the characters from the first book. These new characters are Ganar, a new race that gets woven into the same eternal conflict, and one that will forever change the nature of the battle. With even more PoV characters in this book you would expect it be just as character driven, but the opposite is actually true. Mark Lawrence instead leans into the brain-burning, timeline twisting eternal library battle and the characters take a bit more a back seat. Is this a change for the better or is this another case of an author letting the big picture story getting in the way of the characters?

This is a very unique concept coming from author Mark Lawrence, and I gave it a shot even though I've bounced off some of his stuff in the past, like Prince of Thorns. This time around he was able to grab me though, with a story that builds up in a very interesting way. The world is exposed to you through the eyes of two children, Livira and Evar, and their very different lives. Livira is a duster, who winds up being captured as a child when sabbers invade her meager desert settlement and kill all the adults. She is rescued from that situation and brought to Crath city, which is a wondrous place to a juvenile duster, and home of the Athenaeum, the great library. It is this library that is the centerpiece of the series, and it is a place so large it is impossible to ever explore it all. Evar is a 20 year old who was also orphaned as a child, and he has grown up within the library itself, trapped there with his siblings. As Livira and Evar explore the world around them, we learn about the library from two very different angles, and a multi-layered story begins to unfold.

The Girl and the Stars is a tale of magic, mysticism, science fiction, and survival. Like Lawrence's Books of the Ancestor series, The Girl and the Stars takes place on the planet Abeth, which was colonized by humans despite its dying sun. Only a narrow belt around the equator is kept warm by a satellite that concentrates solar energy into a laser. A few nomadic tribes eke out a living on the ice beyond that belt and theirs is a harsh way of life that sacrifices any children deemed unacceptable before they can become a drain on a clan's resources. As Yaz arrives at this year's gathering she expects to be rejected by the priests. She's neither small and weak, nor growing too fast and eating too much, but she is different. There is something inside her that lets her see beyond the surface of the physical world to a river that only she can touch and draw upon. As anticipated the priest sees her difference, but instead of casting her into the pit to die he pulls her aside before pushing her younger brother over the edge. Without thought Yaz jumps to save her brother and discovers that everything the priests have told her people is a lie.

At 9 years old Jorg experiences a terrible trauma that shapes the rest of his life. As his mother and brother are killed, he is helplessly caught within the thorns of a nearby briar patch unable to help in any way. After the incident, his father (the king) is unwilling to risk war with Count Renar, who is the person behind the murders, and he basically agrees to put the matter aside in exchange for some economic concessions. Jorg can't accept this outcome and this series of events ultimately shapes him into a monster bent on revenge against both Count Renar and his own father. Jorg's mind becomes a very dark place and this book is experienced from inside that mind.

It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. So begins Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. Nona Grey lives on an ice world where humanity huddles around the equator and jealously guards its remaining resources. Nona is a slave sentenced to hang for murdering a nobleman. She's ten years old. Abbess Glass of the Sweet Mercy Convent rescues her and Nona becomes a novice. There are ultimately three paths the nuns can choose, but for ten years Nona and the other novices learn the basics of combat, magic, and prayer. Political fallout from Nona's rescue, assassination attempts, and an ancient prophecy combine to add intrigue to a tale of friendship, growing up, and kick ass nuns.

​​​​​​​This book has many things to like about it, and some not to like, which might very well be appropriate as the story revolves around the combination of opposites. There are two main characters in this one - Prince Jalan Kendeth, a womanizer and self proclaimed coward, and Snorri, a Viking warrior out for revenge against those who attacked his homeland. Snorri and Jalan form an odd couple dynamic as fate thrusts them together and sends them out on a suicide mission where they must find a way to get along or they will both end up dead. With their opposing personalities playing off each other they both face obstacles in their own unique way while never really knowing the bigger picture of what is going on.