Crown of Renewal (Paladin’s Legacy)

Crown of Renewal is the fifth and final volume in the Paladin’s Legacy sequence set in the world of Parksenarrion. It’s intended to bring together the major plot threads from multiple books in this overarching fantasy. So this is not the place to start reading this series. Indeed, it’s almost essential to have read the last book, The Limits of Power, because the events described in this book start some three months before the end of the last book and fill in all the gaps in the point-of-view character arcs. You will find it very difficult to relate to this book unless you understand how the two overlap.

That said, for the people following this series, this should prove to be a highly satisfying resolution to the immediate problems. This is not to say everything is resolved. As in the real world, the stories of the surviving characters could easily carry over into a new series. So this is a deliberately understated piece of writing in which some ‘i’s are dotted and some ‘t’s crossed. Insofar as it ever can be, evil is defeated. But not all the good survive — some are, however, transformed. It’s a fascinating continuing saga of myth and magic.