At the time of writing this review it is about 18 hours until the last book in the Mage Errant series, The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells, is available to read and I’m slowly going crazy. I’ve reread the whole series, made copious notes on every small thing to try and work out what’s going to happen, and woke up from dreams about it with new theories on my lips. I am obsessed.

And a lot of that is because of Tongue Eater.

John Bierce tends to write in tides. There’s a lot of build up before the water rises, the waves come crashing down and the action begins. It was evident in A Traitor in Skyhold and was very evident in A Siege of Skyhold and that’s basically what is happening here. The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells is going to be a big, climactic finish and this is the build-up.

Which, unfortunately, leaves this book in an odd position.

It’s usual for books to end on cliffhangers or to hint at what might happen in a sequel. But usually they have some kind of conclusion and this book just kind of ends. It’s the training arc, the preparations, the subtle manoeuvring and I’m sure they’re going to pay off explosively in the finale but I have been left on the edge of my seat for over a year, waiting to find out what happens. So it’s a little hard to recommend this book for its own merits, as a lot of it will rely on a different book.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a fun read. Bierce’s world building has expanded even more, which is something I always liked about it. Except for one specific instance (the return of Imperial Ithos) all the drama, war and conflict has been kept to one continent and it only affects this one continent. And it’s not even the biggest continent out there. These are not world threatening events and that serves to add a nice perspective to everything.

But this book pushes back those boundaries a bit, showing us more of what’s out there and I very much enjoyed it. Hugh and his friends are still as enjoyable to read as ever, the magic is still interesting and the writing is the usual mix between fun and jokey while being serious when necessary. This is still a good book that I would recommend to read.

But mostly I just want to get my hands on The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells.

(Seriously, I have so many theories you guys! My entire collection of books is annotated with guesses, connections, and manic laughter!)

Oh, and we’ve got another one of his short stories set in the same world at the end. This one is about Gram, one of Talia’s brothers, and was, as usual, a great read.