Good things must come to an end, and it seems Kevin Hearne is bringing not just the Ink & Sigil series to an end, but the world of The Iron Druid to an end. Candle & Crow brings the story of Al MacBharrais to a close, a story that began in Ink & Sigil and continued in Paper & Blood. The novel serves as sort of a last hurrah not just for Al, but for characters introduced in the very first Iron Druid novel Hounded and subsequent novels. Characters like Atticus O’Sullivan, Granuaile MacTiernan, Owen Kennedy, Oberon, and Orlaith.
Al MacBharrais has a most unusual job: He’s a practitioner of ink-and-sigil magic, tasked with keeping order among the gods and monsters that dwell hidden in the human world. But there’s one supernatural mystery he’s never been able to solve: Years ago, someone cast twin curses on him that killed off his apprentices and drove away loved ones who heard him speak, leaving him bereft and isolated.
But he’s not quite alone: As Al works to solve this mystery, his friends draw him into their own eccentric dramas. Buck Foi the hobgoblin has been pondering his own legacy—and has a plan for a daring shenanigan that will make him the most celebrated hobgoblin of all. Nadia, goth queen and battle seer, is creating her own cult around a god who loves whisky and cheese.
And the Morrigan, a former Irish death goddess, has decided she wants not only to live as an ordinary woman but also to face the most perilous challenge of the mortal world: online dating.
Meanwhile, Al crosses paths with old friends and new—including some beloved Druids and their very good dogs—in his globe-trotting quest to solve the mystery of his curses. But he’s pulled in so many different directions by his colleagues, a suspicious detective, and the whims of destructive gods that Al begins to wonder: Will he ever find time to write his own happy ending?
Al MacBharris is still cursed and he’s finally able to get to the root of the problem. This curse makes it so that he cannot speak, if he speaks to a person for a prolonged amount of time, those people will begin to hate him unconditionally. He just has to navigate a treaty against a group of Brits, deal with his assistant Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite (best name ever) deciding to leave her job, the Morrigan deciding she doesn’t want to be a death goddess any more, Al’s hobgoblin friend is wanted for multiple thefts. So yeah, Al’s got a lot going on in this novel and its up to Hearne to sort it all out in a readable fashion.
Of course, Kevin Hearne was up to the task.
About midway through I was beginning to think that Al was being sent on too many “side quests” keeping him away from his primary goal of getting his curse sorted out. But then it dawned on me…that’s life, isn’t it? This also shows that Hearne really excels at throwing annoyances of all sizes at his characters and having them react. Al has always been beset by something to keep him from what he wants to do. Plus, it gave us readers an opportunity to give one last goodbye to some of the characters we’ve come to know and love over the last decade and dozen plus novels and many, many short stories.
What can this humble reviewer say at this point about a book that wraps up a decade’s-long, multi-book, multi-series world? I can say that I enjoyed the book, I found myself smiling while I was reading the book. I enjoyed reacquainting myself with Al one last time as he said goodbye to some of those characters. I might even put Al above Atticus and next to Owen as my favorite human character in this series. Of course, my favorite is Oberon as is proper.
As a farewell to this world, at least in long-form story of the novel (Hearne says he may continue to spin shorter tales), it is fitting. When you follow the life of a character, be it one novel, or many, you want their ending to be worth it, not tacked on. For Al MacBharris, the ending was heartwarming, fitting, logical, and most importantly, it was an earned ending. An earned ending for the novel, series, and character.
I’ll miss these characters, but I’m eager to see what Kevin Hearne has up his sleeve next for readers.
Recommended (but be sure to at least read the first two books in Ink & Sigil).
© 2024 Rob H. Bedford
Book Three of Ink & Sigil
Hardcover | 352 Pages
Del Rey Books | October 2024
https://kevinhearne.com/books/candle-crow/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
