Kirkus Review

Three magical challenges will decide who will be Camelot's king in this series wrap-up. Being smarter, viler, and, except maybe for Merlin, more powerful a wizard than anyone else, it looks like Japeth, impersonating his dead good twin, Rhian, is destined to seize both crown and the Storian, the pen that writes--and can as easily rewrite--reality. Standing in his way is chiseled, golden-haired, relentlessly noble-hearted rival claimant Prince Tedros--who, for all that he can really fill out a wet shirt, has well proven in previous episodes that he would come out second best in a battle of wits with a fence post. Unfortunately (for Japeth), Team Tedros includes a lot of strong, savvy women, led by the prince's angelic true love, Agatha, and her wickedly flamboyant BFF, Sophie. Pulling together a now-teeming cast, Chainani spins out a series of adventuresome quests that frequently grind to a halt for personal epiphanies, explicative backstory, and earnest conversations on the nature of true love (particularly in contrast to Japeth's unrequited same-sex love for the dead, equally evil Aric). There are also heroic sacrifices and exploits aplenty on the way to (what else?) a literal storybook ending. Exceptions to the default-white lineup are cued by occasional references to "brown" or "cinnamon" skin and non-European names; likewise, some of the small figures in Bruno's exuberantly detailed chapter-head vignettes are people of color. A top-heavy close that gives fans a fitting happily-ever-after. (Fantasy. 11-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.