Friday 25 April 2014

Review: The Singing by Alison Croggon

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Title: The Singing

Author: Alison Croggon

Series: The Books of Pellinor #4

Publisher: Walker 

Publication date: September 1st 2008

Format: Paperback | 496 pages

Genre: YA | Fantasy 

Goodreads



In a desperate race against the Dark, Maerad must solve the final Riddle of the Treesong. Only then will the Nameless One be defeated and peace restored to the Seven Kingdoms. But Maerad only holds the key to half the riddle - her long-lost brother, Hem, has the other.


After an epic confrontation with the Landrost, Maerad and her mentor, Cadvan of Lirigon, embark on a perilous journey to find him. But the dark grows ever more powerful - will brother and sister reach one another in time or will all be lost in a final, apocalyptic battle?



My thoughts:


This was by far my favourite book out of the entire 'Books of Pellinor' series and for quite a few reasons.

 

This book features both Hem, Maerad and the rest of the gang I've grown to know and love as they fight to finish their quest of defeating Sharma or the 'Nameless One'. The plot of this book, which is kind of typical for the last book in any series, isn't as complicated as the previous books if only because all the secrets have been revealed and all that's left to do is get on with it and get rid of the evil plaguing the land. Of course it sounds simple when I put it like that but it proves to be a little bit more complicated since Hem and Maerad start off with hundreds of miles between them and have to race to get back together before it's too late.

 

For me, Cadvan and Maerad really stole the show in this book. I love Hem and all but I feel so much closer to Maerad and Cadvan since they've been there since the beginning of the series. I feel that they've been through so much more on their journeys and grown so close together that I can't help but get excited every time they come into play in the story. The couple were so nice to read about - more so than in the other books - the fact that they really care about each other and are so anxious about each others safety is really apparent the entire way throughout the book. It added a really refreshing element to the book - something different to novels focusing more on romance that can end up lacking a great plot.

 

 The plot was more straight forward than previous books but it made the read no less intense. I couldn't stop turning the pages and every time I had to put the book down, it would constantly be playing on my mind. I counted down the seconds until I could pick it up again. The fact that this is the last book only added to the suspense for me since I had no idea in what direction the story would go in the end. I have to say, I'm more than a little upset that it's over.

 

Overall I found this to be a fantastic read. I definitely recommend this entire series for those of you who haven't read it already, especially for fans of the fantasy genre. 

 

My rating: 10/10

 

Alison Croggon:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter

 

The Books of Pellinor:

  1. The Gift
  2. The Riddle
  3. The Crow
  4. The Singing

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