I admit, the ending to Chimaera did seem a little rushed. To end on such a cliffhanger, and having to wait for the next series to discover what happens in a let down.
After having said that, though, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed Chimaera. Actually, I was so enthralled by the series of books that I had begun to read all day, every day until I finished the book.
The book didn't seem to answer the questions that have been on my mind since the beginning of the series. The numinator, for example, is probably the secret I desire to know the most. Who could it be? Is it even a character we've met, so far?
Chimaera has pulled me in, and now I am impatiently awaiting the first book in The Song of the Tears trilogy.
Ian Irvine is a fantastic author, and I hope he has much success in the future. I also hope he writes many more books in the universe of the Three Worlds!

I found the last installment of the 'Well of Echoes' quartet to be exactly what I expected it to be, a climactic conclusion of CURRENT events although I was dissapointed to find that perhaps too many secrets were revealed which made the book that much less attractive.
Ian Irvine spent more time on Chimaera (see www.ianirvine.com) than on any of the other books in the series so, as one would expect, the book turned out to be rather less concise then the former books and far more disjointed to boot. Thankfully we did not see a return to the rambling style of the 'View From The Mirror' quartet and we saw a plot as fast paced as ever.
I am grateful that Ian Irvine did not surcumb to the trap many authors do of explaining too much about the story line, or making free with 'secrets' as such behavior quickly loses the reader's interest. NOT knowing what will happen next is surprisingly more exciting then being able to guess, that is certain. On that note I would urge all of Ian Irvine's critics to observe his writing style, every single one of his novels ends with an overshadowing of doubt which is especially strong with the 'Well of Echoes' quartet - the rejection of humanity by the Aachim in Geomancer, the field failure during the Seige of Snizort in Tetrach and the impending execution of many main characters at the end of Scrutator (Alchemist for all you non aussies). Another thing I'd like to point out was that the un-happy incident at the end of the novel was fortold by Minis earlier in the series.

All this leads to the conclusion that Ian Irvine thought this through much deeper then what seems to be on the surface.

Unfortunately this book is a real dissapointment. As a huge Ian Irvine fan, I've been looking forward to the answers of so many fascinating mysteries and questions asked in the first 3 books, and I've assumed that the last book in a series is where all the key issues are shown and dwelt on, instead the final book didn't the questions at all, even those brought up in the very first book (eg, breeding factories, changing of the histories, the numinator, Tiaan's heritage).

It does seem like a hurried work, and perhaps a device to hook us for the next series, but the thought of having to wait another 4 years to find out about the great mysteries of Ian's fabulous world is most discouraging if the most interesting secrets are not revealed till the very end.