"I guess funerals are like birthdays. Once you reach a certain number of them, they don't seem so special anymore."

this is my favourite of the trilogy, the incredibly gripping progression of the Speck magic and military dissolution makes for very compelling reading. Seeing Nevare's life falling apart so completely and utterly is powerful, and my heart even went out to good old Sirlofty - "I stopped for a moment. I dried my face of the tears that had run unashamedly as we walked together in the darkness.
Then, like a boy, I leaned against my horse's shoulder and tried to hug him good-bbye." It was just so ... unfair!

Though grim, I think I enjoy this one so much as it bridges Nevare's two worlds so expertly. The Gernian Soldier's Son is warring with the Speck's Great One and, even with a shredded reputation, bereft family and nothing but scorn from his countrymen Nevare persists in trying to be what he was meant to be, right up until the last.