So in spite of painting our entire basement yesterday morning, I still found time to finish reading The Ale Boy's Feast by Jeffrey Overstreet. And I have to say, I'm glad I did. A lot of what Overstreet set up in the previous three books were resolved. Characters were reunited with loved ones or found resolution in their predicaments. Futures were hinted at. A lot of them died (a surprising number; I was beginning to wonder if this was written by Joss Whedon at one point). But in the end, I think I finally have a handle on the message that Overstreet has been trying to deliver.And that's been a long time coming.
It seems every time we do a tour on one of his books, I wind up confused over who Auralia and the Keeper is. In the previous three books, I kept landing on a Christological meaning for Auralia and thinly-veiled allegory for the Keeper. Even though I was told that wasn't correct after the first time around, my mind kept drifting back to it. This time, I managed to restrain myself (the end of Raven's Ladder helped). And in the end, I think I'm okay with where we wound up.
Although, truth be told, there were some troubling statements that, left on their own, have me worried. But I'll delve into that tomorrow.
The upshot is that this was a satisfying conclusion to a really good series. I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to read them all from start to finish (my to-be-read pile is threatening to consume a good portion of our house at present). But I've certainly enjoyed my sojourn in the Expanse.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the review, John. I haven't read the final book yet, but it sounds interesting.
Your point about many characters dying and Josh Whedon makes me wonder if the book ends like Serenity with most of the original cast gone.
Guess I'll just have to read the book. :)
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