Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The book was well written. Had the series been about Chaol, the book would have been outstanding even. The problem with this book is that from a series standpoint it is wholly unnecessary. There is no real ties to the main plot until 80% in. There is no direct mention of the main plot until the LAST 3 PAGES & those pages do not add anything revelatory. The content editor really dropped the ball here. Why is this a problem? It breaks the flow of the main story of the series. The pacing of the series is affected because a whole book is devoted to what could've been accomplished just as well with a few chapters; not to mention, no other side characters get a whole book devoted to them, and there are arguably way more important and/or interesting side characters than Chaol & Nesryn. From a reader's standpoint this book is disappointing/ infuriating; a Wheel of Time series 2.0. Within a series it is a bad idea to have the main characters absent for the majority of a book in that series. It's off-putting enough that some readers may either just skip the book (which, let's be honest, wouldn't lead them to miss much), or stop reading the series altogether. This was my least favorite book of the series, for those reasons. ******** SPOILERS-- for those who want to skip the book: . . . The only information you need to know from this book is: (1) Healers with Silba's magic in their blood can push Valg demons out of human/fae hosts & the Torre (Healey's place of learning) had in their possession ancients books/scrolls with wyrdmarks. (2) Maeve is actually a Valg Queen with some sort of mind/memory control powers. And, maybe keeps an owl beside her because it's a shifted fae healer (the owl is Silba's emblem). (3) The giant spiders of the Daghun Fell are Maeve's servants left to guard a gateway to her home realm & are not the same as the Stygian spiders on the north who trade things for their spider silk. (4) Chaol married Yrene, a Silba healer whose lifeforce is now entwined with his (she uses up her power & he loses his ability to walk; he dies, she dies; etc.) & who benefitted from one of Celaena's many small acts of kindness. (5) Yrene's abilities & contacts secured an armada, weapons & maybe even a cavalry for the cause. (6) Nesryn is now in love with a Prince Sardaq who has an aerial bird legion, the ruk, to fight for the cause. (7) The Valg have kings, queens, princes & princesses, and now hide the wyrdstone by playing it with other metals. (8) Nesryn & Sardaq brought ever-sharp fae blades with them from ruins they investigated, which were forged in Asterion.