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Lawrence's Library Trilogy is a slow-burn mind f*@#. Every Lawrence book I have read has discussed the concept of 'time' in a unique way and this one is no different. What stands out more for me than perhaps most of the prior novels that Lawrence has written is that the cast of characters are much more appealing even if alien to us. He has always excelled at creating complicated characters - characters who operate in the 'grey' rather than black/white. He kicks up that element to an 11 in this series as we can sympathize and understand why certain characters take certain actions even when we are screaming at the page for them to stop. We find ourselves rooting for one side knowing that it is at the expense of another side that is equally deserving of our support. And that is what lay at the heart of this series - how do we navigate in a world where we have a near infinite amount of choice, that all boils down to a few decisions that are neither bad nor good.

My words cannot do these books justice. They are not only a pleasure to read, from the standpoint of appreciating the artistic value of their worth, but are just as equally entertaining and stimulating. If I can impart one thing to those who are thinking about continuing this series it is a point I made in my last review of book one: read the preludes to each chapter. Some of Lawrence's finest writing is contained before a chapter starts in a quote from a book contained in the Library. Even if I did not find the writing impeccable, authors are not known for putting in content that has no meaning - if it is there, read it, and I encourage you to discover why he decided to put it where he did.

My only regret is that I will need to wait some six months to a year to finish this wonderful series. I will reiterate that I sometimes marvel and struggle to believe that the same person who wrote The Prince of Thorns (at the time, among one of the grittiest books that I actually enjoyed) authored this wonder.