It feels like this series has gotten completely off track in this book. This was a story about Corin, taking control of his destiny and getting stronger. Except, in this book, he was significantly weakened for much of it, and he spent the book responding to the events around him, doing what people told him and waiting for the next random event to occur. I am not going to accuse the author of using AI, but it FEELS like the kind of story that AI would write. Some stuff happened, some people did stuff, but this novel wasn't really a coherent story with a solidoy defined conflict with a beginning, middle and end. It felt more like a series of very loosely connected plot beats.

I could not put the book down. The action was intense, the magic was sweet, and all the juicy hidden backstory filled in. It makes the previous books make so much more sense. Restores the Visages to super powerful beings who actually aren’t unintelligent as it would seem based on their actions that we had seen before. Why would you have a puny quartz teenager trying to find your brother? Read and find out! Great series.

This book set out to answer many of the lingering questions that this series has left unanswered so far. It's answers mostly pertain to background character's motivations, why did Keras fight X? Why didn't Elora tell the group about Y? That sort of thing. That's not to say that this book doesn't give exciting information, this book gave me a bunch of information and new details to consider. It also scales up the interconnectivity between Rowe's books a bit, you shouldn't be completely blindsided if you read this without reading the Weapons and Wielders series first, but you will recognize a couple returning faces and references made to the other series. Overall I loved this book and it took the series to a more political view than we have been seeing so far, but kept the magical theory talks and fun fights that I've come to expect from Rowe's books.

It felt like there was a lot riding on this book in terms of expectations. The author had been very open about listening to his readers and realizing that there were things he wanted to accomplish with this book and boy did he deliver. This book really felt it was accomplishing exactly what you want to see in a series entry, especially in a universe we've spent so much time in. There were plenty of important developments for the over all plot and for the characters, and it felt like we got more answers to long held questions in this book than we've gotten in the last two or three combined. In fact some things were revealed that I hadn't even thought to ask, and there was even moments that will mean a lot more to those who have read the connected series than those who only stick to AA. The book also has me eagerly awaiting the next book. While we can't know exactly what will happen, we have a good idea of a few things that have to happen and that leave me more excited for the future than feeling like I'm being teased. An excellent entry into the Rowverse, and really hope the wait for book 6 isn't too long.

Except where the auth spends too much time on details of glyps and sub glyphs, no plot advancement, an excellent mystery, and action story. Goood addition to the series.

Love this series and loved this book. Really had some great advancements for the MC in this book. The politics, action, and crunchy magic system kept me from putting the book down.

Stellar work like all the previous books, which I may now need to reread to fully appreciate the things I missed. The whole book was a steady burn of long awaited moments and magical revelations. Most of all I found enjoyable how Corin has grown and matured, staying strong wherever he finds himself.

Like anyone else who has read long book series, my anticipation for this book was borderline unhealthy. I reread the preview chapter 10 times just to stave off my eagerness for the book’s release. In fact I finished another reread yesterday- the very day it was released. From the moment I read the recap I knew I was going to pull an all-nighter if I had to in order to finish the book. Rowe has done a wonderful job with world building, action scenes, dialogue, and character development over the course of the series. This book felt like the jump from senior year to a college freshman in terms of stakes and pace. Rowe acknowledged the mystery fatigue that plagued the fandom and decided to drop bombshells from the beginning to the end of the book. That isn’t to say that the book lacks intrigue or questions; Rowe just has done a much better job at balancing questions with answers. Seeing old and new characters interact in a more political environment was a fresh change of pace, and it paired very well with the usual scientific exploration of the world’s magic systems. This has absolutely been my favorite book, and I’m sure I’ll say that about the next. If you’ve read up to AA4 and are debating to read this book, definitely read it. If you’re like me and look at the reviews of later books to see if the series drops in quality, have no fear; it only gets better.