This appears to be the epic conclusion to an amazingly written series. By saying "appears to be" I mean that to my shagrin I can't find any other books in the series. Its not that it ended with a cliffhanger, I just wanted more because they're SUCH good books! It definately ended openly though, so that if the authors ever DID write more it wouldn't be hard. These books have so much depth to them. For instance, the human world in this series has existed in its current state of government and culture for over 400 years and it FEELS like it. It doesn't seem like the authors just made this up as they went along, it feels like they spent hours and hours working out all the details to make the series believable. They succeed. Not only that but the characters are flawed and relatable, despite their strange powers and connection to what is called "Deep Magic" and "The Dream".I have issues with religion in books. These books are all about religion and magic, but they are written in such a way that I just... wasn't offended. Maybe its because the gods mentioned in the books are never actually worshiped or really made into characters (except once...). Well, okay I take back the worshiping part, that is if you can count dragons as gods, in which case the Pir (the main religious group) worship the dragons all the time.... I suppose they never really SHOW the religions in practice much, but you can tell that they're THERE I suppose.Anyway; the books center on people called (in the first book) lunatics and crazy people and then later (in the second and third books) Mystics. They are founded by a young man called Galen Arvad and the books follow him and his descendants as their new culture progresses.Now bear with me everyone, because this will sound weird, but the books are actually about THREE worlds that are the SAME world. Kinda. The three worlds are as follows: The world of humans, the world of fairies and the world of goblins. The three worlds are connected through the Deep Magic that the Mystics from all three worlds (Note: They are called Sharajin by the fae and Technomancers by the goblins, only the humans refer to those who have knowledge of the Deep Magic as Mystics) use. They are connected by a Dream that is shared by all three races. They often meet each other in the Dream world and it is there that they exchange Magic. Each person who enters the Dream has a partner who is from one of the other worlds.Its in the third book that things really start to get complicated though.I know, I know; it wasn't ALREADY complicated?!As a matter of fact, no, that was the easy part. :P However, as I said before the authors are such good writers that it all makes sense somehow. It just sounds wacky beyond all reason.*Spoliers for Mystic Empire*The worlds begin to develop what are called "Rift Gates". These are used to instantly teleport to anywhere in the world as long as there is another gate at the point you want to get to. The gates are controled by Songstones in the human and fairy worlds and books in the goblin world (read Mystic Warrior and Mystic Quest to discover the signifigance of books to the goblins if you don't already know. However if you don't knwow that then you shouldn't be reading this part of the review, so go away! =P Just kidding, but read at your own risk). Each world uses them for different things; the Mystics to get from place to place quickly, the goblins to conquer other worlds and the fairies to save their race. I'd go into more detail but unfortunately I don't have time right now. Hopefully I'll be able to get more in depth later. For now though; TTFN- ta-ta for now! :)
What do You think about Mystic Empire (2007)?
I really enjoyed this book! The characters flowed and the story went with them. I was always eager to see what was going to happen next and it was always painful when I had to stop for things like work. The only problem I had with this one is that it's the last one! It left the story open with more story to tell and while the stories are supposed to be leading up to the "Binding of Worlds" it just never gets to it. I believe it could have happened with just one more book but the Hickman's never wrote that fourth book to this series. I really hope they go back and really finish that last untold piece of the story. It's something I would look forward to!
—Mark
