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I'm clearly in the minority, but I just didn't like this conclusion to the trilogy. I debated reading this last book because I didn't really enjoy The Ask and the Answer all that much.

This last book centers on the war between the Mayor's army, the Answer, and the Spackle, with Todd and Viola somehow ending up on opposite sides. I think my problem with this book, aside from the war, is that there doesn't seem to be any character development. Todd doesn't really seem to learn anything or grow with the experiences he's been through. He blindly follows the Mayor, trying to control him with a lot of empty threats. The Mayor remains ridiculously evil. Viola, who was probably the only character I could stand in the earlier books, just becomes dull. There is a lot of repetitive dialogue between characters that just makes the story drag.

The Spackle is added as a third perspective in this book� I wanted to like them but with the way they spoke I kept thinking this sounds familiar and then I realized that it was probably something similar to the way Native Americans are sometimes portrayed. I have no problems with Native Americans, but for some reason the similarity just bugged me in this book. The Clearing, the Burden, the Land, the Sky, the Source, the Knife, the One in Particular, the Return - oh man, it was just all too much.

Before I even got halfway, I found that I really didn't care what happened to the characters, I just wanted it to end. I was hoping that it would get better, but in my opinion it does not. The ending was ok (actually the last 5 mins would make a good beginning) but I was just so tired by then, that I think it was too little too late. 1.5 stars