Final Gate: The Last Mythal, Book III [Mass Market Paperback]

Final Gate by Richard Baker is the third and final book in the Last Mythal trilogy. The other two books are The Forsaken House and Farthest Reach. This book is the culmination of several plots coming together in a climatic conclusion, one that will have a profound impact on the realms, in particular the area of the Dales. If you have not read the first two books in this trilogy and are thinking about reading this one, I highly recommend reading the first two; otherwise you will be quickly lost in the story and miss the overall picture of some of the events that occur.

The plot of this book was very well written and Mr. Baker did a fantastic job of tying up loose ends as well as giving depth to the story. There are several plots going on at the same time in this book which almost forces the reader to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next. Mr. Baker also does a fantastic job of combining multiple elements, magic (and a great deal of magic there is), politics, intrigue, large scale battles, and personality. I have often been a critic of large scale battles in the past, however, the large scale battle in this book seems appropriate and `fits' within the context of the story. Whereas some other books add the large scale battle just to have one. If you are a fan of magic use, this trilogy is one you will surely enjoy. There is plenty of large scale magic use, but all done in such a way that give the reader the impression that it is something special and not everyone can work magic like that. Truly a well told story and one I enjoyed.

The characters in this book have been developing over two books so for the most part we know what to expect from them. Some authors forgo character development in the final book of a trilogy, but Mr. Baker continues on with his superb development and even throws a twist or two in to make sure the reader is paying attention. There is a subtleness about the character development in this book, it is not a `in your face' type of development, rather it is a development through actions and words that we see small shifts in each characters behaviors. It was truly a joy to read that type of development.

Overall, this series as a whole if one that I am sure the vast majority of people will enjoy. There are elements in this story that will appeal to a broad range of fans. This is a Realms Shaking Event meaning that there will be repercussions for the Forgotten Realms with the conclusion of this story, so if you are a fan of the Realms you really need to read this trilogy. I think most fantasy fans will enjoy this book as well. In fact I may even recommend this trilogy to people who are looking at getting into the fantasy genre. This is one of the better trilogies to have been released by Wizards of the Coast in a couple of years. Don't hesitate to pick these up today.

This is a very good book, and the conclusion of one of the best of the forgotten realms series. The first two books are even better than this one, the series as a whole gets a solid "A". This Book seemed a bit rushed and lacked some of the color a vividness of the first two books.
The writing style is very readable, the author paints for the most part a rich and vivid story, the dialogue works well, and the plot is fast paced!

The only thing I did not care for in this series was the over powering use of super numbers of super villains, the elves have to not only fight the horde of magical half elf / half demons, but thousands of devils and real demons as well. Just too much, it took away from the believability for me, just too many "Oh come on's" for me.

OVERALL SCORE: (B+)
READABILITY: (A-), PLOT: (A-), CHARATERS: (A-), DIALOGUE: (A-), SETTING: (A), ACTION/COMBAT: (B-), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (B-), ROMANCE: (B-), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG13)

This was the last trilogy from the Wizards of the Coast trilogy mill that I've enjoyed. The author does a great job keeping his characters developing throughout the story, and an even better job weaving in the new characters with existing Realms characters and politics. This is definitely an 'epic' tier campaign, and a story this overarching could never be written in 4e. The character mechanics just don't support this much power in the hands of an individual, or even a group of individuals... but this was Realms writing at its best, where a small group of protagonists led by a main character make a real difference in the world and cope with the consquences.

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