A woman hires a guide to take her back to her ancestral home, through a land of mystery and powerful creatures, and where an evil lurks, ready to take possession of a powerful artefact.

Based on my previous experience with this series, I was completely surprised to find that I loved the intensity of the main character and the way the story was written. It’s just too bad that the whole thing fell apart at the climax, which threw it all away with unnecessary mystery and poorly described action. There is hardly any dialog in this book, and that is to its credit and I think to the author’s strength. The interior thoughts, worries, descriptions and awe of the world she was walking into, and her continual reassessment of her guide and his ability, left me wanting more. No matter that there was barely any action or conflict. The girl’s thoughts sustained most of the story. When the action was quick, like when they found the boy, or the forest people, it was well done, continuing the intensity of the main character. But at the end, everything was confusing, to how she got out of the castle, to the help she received and the spirits beyond our comprehension. It’s too bad, too, because that takes up such a small fraction of the entire wonderful story –but it’s the most important part.

I went warily into this book because of what I found in Trey of Swords. Given that this is a box set of three, I decided it was time for a bit of distraction. Fortunately, I was very pleasantly surprised, by a deep and introspective main character, who treads carefully to protect her secret, even as she relies on the Falconer to protect her.

There isn’t much story to this book, which takes place as Tirtha hires Nirel the Falconer without a falcon, and they cross the mountains into the ancient lands that were destroyed by the Witches of Estcarp as they were facing annihilation decades ago. She’s compelled to seek out the remains of her ancient homeland, Hawkholm. On the way, she finds the boy Alon, who must be descended from a more ancient race, and the power of the lands. They find a dead man who seemed to be on a similar quest, and take the scroll he was carrying, as well as his horse. Entering the forest, they are nearly attacked by the people of the forest, until she shows the forest king humility and kindness. The forest hides them until they get to Hawkholm, where unfortunately the story falls completely apart.

The best parts of this book were Tirtha’s solitude and her opening up as it progressed. Realizing that what she and Nirel faced was more than just a quest to find an ancient artefact, but that they were walking into danger, that there were people living here –good and bad people- forced her to reveal parts of her quest, always keeping some parts secret.

She uses magic salts to create a dreamlike fugue, draws on Firel and his new falcon’s power, as well as that of Alon, to search for meaning in her dreams. She only survives because she trusted them with parts of her vision, as the evil that waits for them is lurking nearby.

Tirtha had used her magic earlier to save Alon, the boy whose fright turned him invisible. Only her dreams showed where he could be. The sequence where she and Nirel calm him in her lap, where they can’t see him but administer life-saving magic, was terrific.

At some point, the falconer gets a falcon, a descendent of the ancient breed that bonded with falconers like himself, before the Aerie was destroyed. He is also guided to an ancient weapon, which he uses to help Tirtha in her magic.

I could have gone on through the entire book like this, with Tirtha’s inner thoughts, her doubts, guidance, and sharing with the falconer and Alon, because her interior voice was beautiful and mesmerizing. I didn’t need the danger that faced them at the end of their quest.

Unfortunately, the quest has to amount to something, and it’s usually a battle between the forces of good and evil. However, like in Trey of Swords, the final battle has nothing to do with what came before. It’s meaningless because the good and evil are so far romoved from our realm, from Tirtha’s realm, that it’s beyond understanding.

Tirtha knows exactly where to find the chest, that only someone from Hawkholm can find. The bad guys of course come after her, seriously wound the falconer, kill the falcon, but it transforms into another kind of bird, which Tirtha feels as a protecting force, even though her body has also died. Only her mental consciousness hangs on, even as the bad guys bring her across country, looking for a way to remove the chest from her body without dying, as one already did. I lost track of the geography, even to the end.

In the cave, the falconer reappears –it was obvious that this would happen when Alon insisted on bringing the horses for a quick getaway. The strange bird reappears as Nintura the good force. The evil force shows up also, summoned by the bad guys. But so do two other protectors, each carrying a sacred weapon that wards off the evil one. The falconer is healed, and Tirtha’s spirit is brought back into alignment with her body. Alon, it seems, will leave to find the remnants of his own people, I think, while Tirtha and Nirel seem to get romantically involved.

None of the ending was clear, which is too bad. Tirtha and the others were used as puppets, but I don’t even know to what end. It’s too bad, because the rest of the book was a pure joy to read.