L'Etoile de la Sor'cière

The Banned and the Banished #5

by James Clemens, Isabelle Troin (Translator)

Ce sera bientôt l’ultime combat contre le Seigneur Noir. Elena la sor’cière a regagné l’île de Val’loa où elle espère reconstituer ses forces.
C’est alors qu’Harlequin Quail entre en scène, un petit homme en costume de bouffon qui se prétend espion. Il revient tout juste de la forteresse de Noircastel où subsisterait l’un des por-tails du Weir, le plus puissant, avec lequel, dans une lune à peine, le Seigneur Noir instaurera un règne maléfique. Elena et la puissante magie du Journal Sanglant peuvent encore l’arrêter, mais Noircastel est un bastion impénétrable, et seul le Seigneur Noir sait où le portail est caché.
Traqués par les sbires de l’ennemi, menacés par un traître dans leurs rangs, Elena et ses courageux compagnons vont tenter d’achever une quête désespérée. En route, de nombreuses questions trouveront leur réponse, maintes illusions voleront en éclats et les liens de la magie et de l’amour seront éprouvés jusqu’au point de rupture…

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Witches, Science Fiction Fantasy

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

James Clemens [Aka James Rollins] was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1961. With his three brothers and three sisters, he was raised in the Midwest and rural Canada. He attended the University of Missouri and graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1985. The lure of ocean, sun, and new horizons eventually drew him to the West Coast, where he established his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California, eventually settling for good in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

He is the author of The Banned and the Banished series (The Wit’ch War Saga) and The Godslayer Chronicles.

Reviews

[Carol (StarAngel's Reviews) Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...just freakin WOW!!

The first thing I have to get off my chest is the narrator of the story. Before each book, we get a little story of the writer of these retellings of the wi'tch in which he is cursed of immortality until he writes the story of Elena and her friends.

Now, I thought I knew who it was throughout all the books until this one...then I changed who I thought it was....then I was proved wrong. I absolutely LOVED being wrong and then surprised at the end.

Now, on to the story...so, we are at the end and maybe the final battle could have been a bit more climatic but in my eyes - I gave it a free pass because of all the battles leading up to this one was above par.

I'm totally sad that this series is over and would loved to have seen this played out on the big screen - I think it would have been a great summer movie hit!

[Brecht Denijs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed my reread of this series. It isn't flawless for sure but I do feel it deserves more credit than it is getting. Interesting mixture of epic fantasy and grimdark and of tropes and new ideas. The character growth and well rounded story line were particularly well done. It has its detractions but is well worth the read. The ending in particular was a bit rushed. Nevertheless I shall happily be returning to this in a few years time.

[Joann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so sorry to see this series end. I fall in love with the characters and just what it to go on forever. I may now have to read one of his other series.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I like this series. It doesn't innovate, but it does everything else well. The evil is unquestionably evil. The good is challenged philosophically; how much harm can you do on your path to good? The characters grow. The pacing keeps you engaged. My only real complaint is that Clemens doesn't seem to evolve from book to book. It's as if all five books were written in one big volume, and split up into parts for publishing. The last book reads just like every other book in the series and doesn't have the oomph of a finale.

[Jo Marjoribanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while longer to finish my re-read of this final volume in the series than I thought it would (to be fair, it's 700+ pages long), but I'm sad it's over. Re-reading this series has been like spending time with an old friend. I'll miss wandering through this world.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wit’ch Star is a worthy finale to a wonderful fantasy series. I cannot recommend it enough. The Banned and the Banished series never became repetitive, and the character development throughout the books is a pleasure to experience. Even the plot of these books remained fresh; Clemens is able to avoid some of the major pitfalls many fantasy authors unfortunately fall into when attempting epic fantasy. >Wit’ch Star is also one of the best conclusions to a series I have ever read; everything is tied together, and we finally discover the author of the scrolls. (As a side note, another beloved fantasy author of mine invented almost the same ending, which makes me slightly disappointed in him, as Clemens’ novel came out first). I will be advocating for this series for years to come.

If you love fantasy, I strongly recommend you check out this series. I’m happy to lend out my copies!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good conclusion to the series. All the characters have their parts to play and there is a good buildup to the final battle. A new character was introduced although he didn't really feel very necessary. It did seem to end a little abruptly, but I confess to wanting to know how everybody's lives turned out; after five books I'd like to know everyone lived happily ever after. :)

I do like that the series actually does come to an end instead of just continuing forever. Remember when fantasy came out in trilogies?

[Aurelie Minguet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me voici enfin arrivée à la conclusion de cette saga fantastique.

S'il m'a fallu du temps, ce n'est pas tant à cause de la qualité du récit que par les trop nombreuses pauses que j'ai faites entre chaque tome, ou parfois même pendant ma lecture d'un seul tome. À refaire, je ne lirais ces livres qu'en vacances, genre pendant l'été. En effet, les très nombreux personnages principaux et secondaires, leurs noms et histoires personnelles particulières, étaient parfois difficiles à retenir pour peu que se soient écoulés 2 mois entre mes lectures. C'est une série à laquelle il faut se consacrer pleinement, le temps nécessaire à sa lecture totale. Sinon cela donne une fausse impression de longueur et de lourdeur.

En conclusion, c'est une bonne série fantastique que je suis très contente d'avoir découverte.

[Joan Damiens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une fin superbe pour cette série qui m'a happée!
Malgré des longueurs, cette série fantasy m'a vraiment séduite, avec des personnages intéressants, des relations passionnantes, un traitement des relations de genre agréable, et un vrai scénario. Le dénouement final s'est fait attendre et a été un peu rapide, comme souvent dans ce genre de séries longues, mais il a répondu à un grand nombre de questions (pas toutes!) et ça se tient!

Je recommande complètement cette série, moins connue que d'autres, mais riche de ses personnages profonds et attachants et de ses intrigues originales et nombreuses!

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

and so it ends;
took me a little less than two months to finally wrap everything up but it was all worth it

p323: "...it would make the four weirgates seem like a whore's glass baubles."

p329: she was not the only to make this connection.

p377: two quivers of arrows were crossed on his back.

p456: they fell with a scatter.

[Ariana Fae · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://arianafae.com/2018/05/witch-st...

I can't believe The Banned and Banished story is done and I have to close the book on these wonderful characters James Clemens created.

In WIT'CH STAR the stakes are even higher, the quests harder, the battles more bloody, the sacrifices more heart rendering, and the characters develop more-some shifting to the side of good and others to the side of evil...some you would be shocked to discover. Not only are there betrayals, there is love found and strengthened, motives finally revealed, and characters finding the strength within themselves to overcome the odds stacked against them.

WIT'CH STAR was a wonderful conclusion to the The Banned and Banished story. Although there is magic, epic battles, prophecies, and dangerous quests, in my opinion at it's heart WIT'CH STAR is about redemption and what one is willing to sacrifice for it. Out of the thousands of books I've read, The Banned and Banished books are one of the few that have a permanent spot on my bookshelves.

[Tanner Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

My New Year's resolution is to stop getting myself invested in these long ass fantasy series because this ending just pissed me all the way off!!!

[Tragedies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch hatte, wie alle anderen zuvor, einige sprachlich schwache Momente. Was es aber wirklich heruntergezogen hat, waren der immense Fokus auf Liebe und Lust und das enttäuschende Ende.

Die Charaktere sprechen zwar ständig davon, wie viele gestorben sind, doch von den Hauptcharakteren stirbt genau EINER. Der Rest kommt durch magische Rettung irgendwie immer zurück. Bei diesem krassen Endkampf hätte mindestens die Hälfte sterben müssen! Was interessiert mich ein Charakter, der vor 3 Büchern das letzte Mal aufgetaucht ist? Ich will Blut sehen! :D

Das Ende war auch sehr gerushed, es wirkte so, als wären dem Autor die Seiten ausgegangen und er musste Gas geben. An sich fand ich das Ende in Ordnung, einiges war definitiv gut vorbereitet (den "Autor" des Buches konnte man sich schon denken) und ich war dennoch überrascht. Ich fand nur Elenas Entscheidung, alle gleich zu machen, etwas plötzlich (dieses Thema wurde davor nie so richtig angeschnitten) und hätte mir auch gewünscht, dass sie nach einer letzten Verabschiedung tot bleibt.

Alles in allem war mir das Ende einfach viel zu schnell und gut. Nach all den Kämpfen und der großen Macht des Gegners hatte ich viel mehr Widerstand erwartet.

Ich finde es auch schade, dass das Schicksal der Überlebenden nicht mal angedeutet wird - sie gehen einfach getrennte Wege und das war's. Wie ist es mit den El'ven ausgegangen? Wie geht es mit den Nyphai weiter? Sind Der'endi und Mer'ai jetzt verbündet und bleiben zusammen? Was ist mit den Gebirgsleuten und Tyrus Burg? Was ist mit den Si'lura?
Und wie ist das alles in der Zukunft, zu der Vor- und Nachwort verfasst wurden? Sind das alles nur noch Menschen? Haben sie moderne Technologie? Es scheinen ja viele Jahrhunderte wenn nicht Jahrtausende vergangen zu sein.

Ein paar Fragen müssen und sollten nicht beantwortet werden, aber das waren mir dann doch ein paar zu viele und zu wichtige ...

Im Großen und Ganzen ist es schon eine gute Serie, aber die sprachlichen Schwächen, das soft magic system, der übertriebene Fokus auf Liebe/Lust und das enttäuschende Ende ziehen sie schon stark runter. Ich bin froh, sie gelesen zu haben, aber nochmal werde ich sie nicht lesen.

[Kerrie Hinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the whole series of the “Wit’ch” books twice now, and while I have to say they are good stories, very creative with a lot happening, I find the writing style to be a little annoying at times, with the author alternating between an easy reading, practical style to a more flowery mode bordering on heroic. I got the impression he was trying a bit too hard to be clever.
There are numerous adventures within the whole series but the writer draws each episode out as far as he can by bogging down in too many details. Book Five seemed to be the worse for this and I got the inkling that he was stretching the story out as far as he could possibly go, to fill the pages in order to pack has much as he could into each book, so much so that it became monotonous and I was glad for the ending; like sitting waiting for the sun to come up over the horizon!
The amount of cliff-hangers within each book was also slightly annoying and tedious so that I ended up having to put the books down to have a break then pick them back up the following evening.
There are some similarities to the David Eddings’ series, but Clemens as been very subtle about it. However, after reading the fantasy Eddings’ series a number of times, I have spotted the correlations.
Clemens’ stories are broken up into other smaller books and, as a result, there are far too many characters, with different groups of characters all doing different things in different places at different times. Therefore it can be hard for the reader to remember who is doing what, where and when and with whom!
It might have been helpful to have had a full list of people, creatures and places in the back of the book as well as a Map of Gul’gotha in the front. I kept looking to where Elena’s group had travelled to in’ Book Four’ only to find no map reference to that part of the world.
I won’t be reading the series again. I think the long-windedness has but me off.
Still, having said all that, the adventures, plots, relationships between the characters, creatures, non-humans and imagination is all there and not a bad job at all!

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final (fifth) book in the Banned and the Banished series, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Clemens is not afraid to put his characters through the wringer, and his early-on death of some of the major characters in earlier books leaves you astounded at the fragility of it all. Given that the story is also being told by someone else, many many many (like, immortal-many) years later, you also know that something semi-bad happens at the end already, but it might be the narrative voice's bitterness showing (and who is the narrator, anyway?).

Clemens' world is one where elemental magicks are fairly common, and a dark corruption force is taking those with elemental abilities and turning them into dark mockeries of themselves. One woman, a wit'ch (Elena) has been given the task/fate/ability/curse of trying to stop it all from happening. As the good guys blur greyer and greyer, things get harsher and harsher for all of the characters you've grown to love, and you're sure it's all going to end with a bang and a whimper, but I didn't see the end that came coming. It was that good.

If you enjoy George R.R. Martin, and/or are sick to death of Robert Jordan's complete apathy for his fans, then these are the books for you!

[Ashley White · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Conclusion to the Banned and Bannished series left me aching and breathless. The characters are purely human and emotion shines through even at the worst of times. You can't help but feel it all as intense moments are around every chapter, and magic and corruption springs off the pages.
The ending, although it was the final conclusion and you are left of no doubt there is no more left... still, blatantly tells you there is more. Something not yet spoken, something not yet happening, and you are left gripping the pages in a foul mood that.... there is nothing left. It has finished. The journey, the adventures, the foes, the heroes... are all over. But somehow... it shouldn't be!
I loved this book. I loved this whole series with a passion and I read it faithfully, and with love and determination and a loyalty to the characters that probably bordered on obsession. Yes, I loved them all. Until the last page.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the last book in the series...up to the last chapter. A lot of loose ends were tied up, for better or worse. However there were some blatant open ends left so I was a bit surprised when the last chapter brought the story to an end where you find out who the 'immortal' narrator is and in a hasty rush, what happened to some of the other characters. I just think there could have been a more detailed conclusion for the characters. Other than that, it was a not stop roller coaster ride of fighting, possession, schemeing and as usual, the fight against good & evil.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent ending to this story overall - the final battle certainly met 'epic climax' expectations so that part especially was fun to read! This final book in the series featured the tightest writing in terms of the plot, & in my opinion the most key character development. I only wish the previous 4 books had been like this one.

I still have certain Issues with a couple of things in this series, but overall an okay read for a classic epic fantasy. If I never see race names with unnecessary apostrophes ever again, it will be too soon.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous series. All the bits that needed tying up were and everything made sense. It hurt when characters were killed off, but hey, that's the way it should be. I'm off to see what else Clemens has published. Have to say I'ma little sad I've finished this series.

[Cyndie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce tome clos une série époustouflante ! On ne s'ennuie pas une seule seconde, on est à la porte du mal comme les personnages, en attendant la fin, une fin qui est loin d'être rose d'ailleurs (si vous passez l'expression).
Très bonne découverte, certainement une des meilleures série de fantasy.

[Kass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping to the very end. I was sorry to have finished. Luckily, I have managed to get my mom into the series :)

[Sven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelukkig is het slot van de reeks beter dan het vorige deel.
Een mooie afsluiter van een prachtige reeks.

[Shannon Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending was a little outside of what I would expected, but I was definitely intrigued in it and enjoyed it.

[Arya ethen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing story .cool.
I loved it

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without a doubt, I have to start this off by saying this is the best of the Banned and the Banished series. Something seemed to change between book 3 and book 4 - the writing had vastly improved and the characters were actually showing some semblance of depth and development. It was a refreshing uplift to the entire series.

Wit'ch Star followed through with that, and the writing quality - as far as it goes for this series - was very spot on. Obviously still not perfect - no writing is. But considering its very, very shaky roots, this was really enjoyable to read and I'm pleased it turned out that way.

Spoilery bits after the cut ~


Let's jump straight into the cons, as I've marked down a lot of them:

Harlequin Quail - I'm usually wary of jester/fool/harlequin characters, because more often then not I fucking adore them. Seriously, throw a fool into the story and I'll just melt.



However. Despite having the default +5 bonus to instantly becoming my favourite character, jester characters almost always seem to follow the exact same formula: they're strange in some way (mentally troubled or disabled or genius, seriously foreign, etc), they are brutally honest and hilariously clever for it, and they're generally set up like rogues from pretty much any RPG game out there. With a ton of bells attached. Now, there's nothing at all wrong with that - it just doesn't tend to leave much wiggle room for an actual, interesting, unique sort of character.

I don't quite remember which book Harlequin was originally introduced in, but I know for certain it wasn't Wit'ch Star. I got quite excited when a jester was introduced, but he literally only showed up once in the entire story until book 5, when he blasts onto the scene and is suddenly all up in everyone's faces, in a outgoing, cocky background character sort of way. There's almost no point to his existence. He doesn't add anything to the story, he doesn't get involved with any of the other characters, he doesn't Save The Day or Turn Darkside and betray the team. He does share information, very important information at the start of the book - but that's it. He was the Sy-wen and Kast plot device character of Star. I loved his arrogance and wanted to see him furthered as a character - but nope. Shame really.

The One - Normally an instant put-off, unless it's Harry Potter barring certain notable exceptions. After Mogweed messes about with dead Mycelle's rainbow snake and somehow fuses him and Fardale into one body, they're referred to by some si'luran prophecy/fable/warning/something that they will either herald their redemption, or their doom. Something along those lines. Point being, at least I can appreciate that, in this case, the term is used a little more literally - two becoming one. Therefore, they are the One instead of the Twins. It makes sense, and isn't really played out beyond that, which I actually appreciate even though it seems mildly silly.

Literally - This isn't really a beef with Wit'ch Star specifically, rather something that clearly pops up in fantasy a lot. After the attack upon the gathered og're clans by Vira'ni, Tol'chuk decides to clear out the nest of her children with fire. He notes that previously, Elena needed both her standard, run-of-the-mill fire magics, as well as her coldfire, in order to kill them. Apparently the cold part of it wasn't important, as Tol'chuk decides that having two types of fire as well will give him what he needs to defeat the children - normal fire fuelled with oil, and the raging fire of vengeance in our hearts, the bloodlust of a united og're people aaauuuuggghhhh! Brings me back to Eowyn being a complete bad-ass and slaying the Witch King, because she is not a man.

I might be looking into this too much though. So yes, this is definitely more of a personal peeve than any fault of the writing I think!

Everyone is very unstable, seriously - They're always dropping to their knees, falling into stunned silences or nodding relentlessly. It felt worn out and ridiculous after the first few repetitions. There are more ways to react to situations, especially as everyone of these characters is supposedly different (hint: they're really not. The newer characters are quite interesting - the original party, with the exception of perhaps Mogweed and Meric, are not.) and therefore will really not realistically always fall into a stunned silence upon hearing a shocking revelation/won't necessarily drop to their knees upon witnessing something really awesome or horrifying/is probably just as willing to mass ignore a room of people because they're in a bad mood, instead of taking thirty-five minutes to nod at every single one of them. It is not realistic, it does not define the characters well, and it shows lazy writing in my opinion.

Greshym - I sort of liked him. Over time, he definitely broke away from the main evil core in the story, becoming entirely his own thing and refusing to bow his head to anyone (unless it benefited him in some way). I liked reading his scenes, and he tended to stand out a lot more as a bad guy to me than...pretty much every other villain in the book. Especially Shorkan, whom I was exceptionally disappointed with (he has a major connection to a major character, and you don't play on that and make us feel the pain that Er'ril must go through...probably poorly handled there) and did not care for at all. Even Ly'chuk, the head honcho, the big baddie, was disappointing. Yes, at least he did have personal and misguided reasons for doing what he was doing, but there was neither enough build-up to the revelations (which weren't hard to predict anyway) and not enough time to appreciate him as a character. It makes the entire series feel very thin - that they went through so much and travelled so far for a whiny, greedy og're. The #1 Villain in a story should not feel like a simple plot device, which he did.



I honestly don't know what was going on here. So many of these characters only seemed to exist to kick the story in one direction or another, and that was that. That is exactly what Ly'chuk felt like, and wow, that wasn't nice. He had so much potential to be cool as hell (seriously, he imprisoned a god, come on) but just fell flat on his face to me. Wasn't pleased about that.

Okay back to the Greshym point! His death - hugely anti-climactic. This is a character that has been leading us through the story, letting us see things from the eyes of a bad guy. I'm sure I'm not the only one who really enjoyed his segments of the story, and to see him killed off so easily, and frankly, so ridiculously, was pretty grating to me.

On the other hand, I can appreciate the message that was being portrayed - that the greatest of powers can be toppled by something tiny, something you may not have foreseen because it was too simple, too obvious. His arrogance and lust for greater power got him killed, and it was interesting that it wasn't through a massive power battle. Just a simple dagger.

Forewords - These had potential to be interesting little hooks, giving us some insight into the true timeframe the books are supposedly being read in, clearly a time much later than the events that were happening. After reading the final book though, it shows that they really served no purpose whatsoever. I instantly forgot about them once I turned to the first page of the story proper, and was sincerely surprised to continue seeing them crop up at the start of each book. They're really only there to hook a reader, and even then not very well, as they seem so utterly foreign from the story.

The Triad - The battle with the corrupted Triad at the Spirit Gate seemed contrived and pointless. There was essentially no reason for it to happen. It did not further the story in any way, and action for the sake of action does not a good chapter make.

Interest - This is my absolute biggest con, and it is serious in that it essentially dwarfs all of the cons I've written for all of the books in this series smushed together and cloned and then all put into an aircraft carrier and then wrapped in the pages of this book.

It is unspeakably important for a reader to be interested in the story from the get-go, not halfway through the fourth book. That is never where you want to find yourself as an author. I remember mostly nothing from anything before Gate, and I don't really want to. The writing was not quality, the characters were not quality, the world-building had great potential but without the support from the other two it just puttered out and was lost in the background. You, the author, need me, a picky reader, to actually want to continue reading these from the first chapter of the first book.

No other flaw in the series can even come close to the importance of that one.

Now for some cheery pros, because I actually do have a fair few ~

Joach - He went through a lot of development here, becoming almost more of an anti-hero than that silly, slightly clueless puppy that followed his sister around in the first few books. It really goes into overdrive when Greshym takes his youth from him - he can finally understand and appreciate exactly what he's lost, what his own stupid decisions have wrought. He is interesting as a bitter, handless old man, hollow with his despair at the loss of Kesla and willing to go through anything to get her back. His dream-sculpting abilities could've shown up more and been far more prominent, but for the most part, he was pretty enjoyable.

Continuity - There was a surprising amount of it, which was really great. Joach drawing on Ragnar'k's leftover magics in his stone chamber was a brilliant and slightly dark action of his.

Also, Rorshaf makes a reappearance.



A lot of loose ends get tied up and addressed, and that really made reading this enjoyable for me. Of course, there's likely a good number that haven't been dealt with (there usually are, no matter the book), but that was overshadowed by the amazing powers of continuity. Not only that, problems and realistic pains that they have caused to other peoples in the previous books are both being brought to light, and sorted out. Yes.

Romance - I hate it. I can't stand romance. It makes me want to rip my eyes out and then scrub my face with lemon juice. I cannot stress how much I dislike it - yet I couldn't help but approve of how slowly Elena's and Er'ril's relationship grew. It definitely wasn't a one-book fling - this started ages ago, back before I really had an interest in what I was reading. Granted, I didn't enjoy the romantic aspects of the book one bit, but I can at least tip my hat to that. Speaking of lovey-dovey couples...

Kast - He punches Sy-wen in the face when she's possessed.



I really loathed these two. I was shocked as hell to see Kast do something apparently out of character for him. Actually I'm still really surprised. That's going to take a while to wear off, really.


All in all, I enjoyed this book. I'm amused to admit that I had a lot more fun reading these than I'd originally anticipated, especially once the story picked up in Gate. It's highly unlikely I'll read them again, but I'm happy to have them on my bookshelf. Not only because they were a gift, but because they collectively rather remind me of the internet-wide obsession for exceptionally aderpable animals.

[Steven Báthory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suite à l’avant dernier volet plus que renversant, je n’ai pas eu envie d’entrecouper mes lectures et me suis directement plongé dans la suite des aventures d’Elena et ses nombreux compagnons de route. Malheureusement et quand bien même j’ai apprécié cet ultime épisode, ce dernier m’a semblé manquer de panache et d’audace en comparaison de ce que nous a précédemment offert James Clemens.

En effet et pour la première fois, j’ai ressenti certaines longueurs dans le déroulement de l’intrigue. Sans pour autant manquer de piment, L’Étoile de la Sor’cière manque parfois cruellement d’action et de punch. Je ne suis pas habitué à ce que l’auteur s’attarde tant et cela m’a parfois dérangé et freiné dans mon immersion. D’autant plus que certains retournements de situations ou d’autres révélations ne m’ont pas semblé à la hauteur de toutes les promesses laissées présager dans ses précédents écrits même si ce dernier le laisse aucune question en suspend. Ainsi et quand bien même j’ai apprécié découvrir la conclusion de cette série, cette dernière se démontre réussie mais souffre d’un manque d’apothéose et se dévoile peu spectaculaire et fortement linéaire. James Clemens semble alors prendre que trop peu de risques et après avoir fait braver tant et tant de dangers à ses personnages, je m’attendais à une finalité épique et bouleversante et ce ne fut pas tout fait le cas. Ce dernier suit le schéma traditionnel du genre et seule la poésie de sa conclusion sauve la donne. Indéniablement, le titre de ce dernier volume est des plus évocateur et pourtant je ne m’attendais pas à autant de poésie et encore moins à de magie. Celle-ci baigne et immonde totalement l’univers de l’auteur et se veut d’une puissance renversante. C’est pourquoi, en réalité et avec quelques passages réduits, je suis certain que ma lecture aurait été bien moins monotone et toute aussi excellente.

Néanmoins et peu importe ces légers manques, je suis plus que triste de devoir faire mes adieux aux attachants et éloquents personnages composant cette palpitante et magistrale épopée. L’auteur mise bien plus sur ces derniers que sur son intrigue et cela se ressent totalement. Ainsi, chacun se dessine à son apogée dans cet épisode et tous auront le droit à leur propre conclusion même si, au vu de leur toujours plus important nombre, certains traitement peuvent sembler manquer de profondeur. Néanmoins et en ce qui concerne les personnages principaux, j’ai adoré les choix réalisé par James Clemens quant à Elena et Joach, tant chacun d’eux s’est à nouveau vu mis à nu lors de cette ultime bataille. Ces protagonistes centraux brillaient déjà grâce à leur construction ainsi que leur profondeur et j’en ai été encore davantage saisi par leur complexité et leur moralité durement mis à l’épreuve. Mieux encore, l’auteur boucle la boucle avec réussite et brio en apportant toutes les réponses à nos questions. Les identités encore secrètes sont dévoilées et j’ai été surpris de découvrir qui se cachait derrière l’auteur de ces livres interdits. Finalement, ce dernier laisse des pistes dans chacune de ses œuvres et bien que plus qu’évident, j’ai réussi à me faire surprendre par ce choix plus que certain.

Enfin et malgré une narration légèrement plus bancale et moins entrainante qu’à l’accoutumé, James Clemens apporte un point final des plus juste quand bien même l’absence d’audace et d’ambition. Ainsi, j’ai pris un incroyable plaisir à suivre les dernières aventures d’Elena et sa bande de parias à laquelle je me suis plus qu’attaché et que je ne suis pas prêt d’oublier.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The grand finale in James Clemens's final volume of his The Banned and the Banished series took a bit too long to finale itself, in my opinion. The final battle, which initially takes place on two continents and involves the entire cast of primary and secondary characters, lasts 80 pages. That's a lot of lot of shouting and cursing and rallying and fighting and killing and dying and not-dying and dying again. The whole sequence was exhausting to read.

When Clemens finally got to the ending, though, it was a pretty good one. And, at last, the two framing devices for the series made sense. I appreciated the frame-within-the-frame (concerning the "true" author of the books), but the "guardians of the Commonwealth" frame was kind of a dud, I thought. It didn't particularly add to the mystique of the series; in fact, it seemed to work against it. Even the final reveal on the last page of the book was not quite enough to warrant the Commonwealth framing device.

Speaking of things that didn't work, Harlequin Quail was another dud. He was introduced as a sort of roguish mystery dude, but Clemens either didn't use him enough to make him matter, or couldn't really figure out how to successfully inject a late-story, "is he an ally or a foe in disguise"-type character. Either way, Harlequin fell flat as a pancake for me. And he's on the cover of this volume!

What else didn't work? Well, Clemens finally delivered on the creepy thing he'd been hinting at for several volumes: Elena, our 15-year-old protagonist, lost her virginity to Er'ril, a 500-year-old formerly immortal man. But it's OK, because after all Elena had been through she's now wise beyond her years, and also because Er'ril had stopped maturing waaaay back when he became immortal as a young man. (#sarcasm) Sorry, Clemens: I don't think using your main character's traumas to rationalize an impossibly old man having sex with a minor makes statutory rape OK. Even if statutory rape isn't a thing in this olde timey fantasy world you've created. Also, yuck.

But hey, we all knew this was coming about 800 pages ago, so I just gritted my teeth and skimmed paragraphs until it was over.

Putting all the things that didn't work aside, however, Wit'ch Star wrapped up this saga well enough for me. I've been thinking about whether I'd ever re-read this series, and I think the answer is no. The first and fourth books were really awesome. But the others didn't quite blow my socks off. It's a solid series, well told, and with some really good characters. But in the end it's the kind of story I'm happy to have experienced a single time.

[southernmyst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enthralling, engrossing page turner - the last in this series.

It has a lot of death in it, as did the other 4 books in this series. I'm not crazy about so much death, and likely wouldn't have picked it up originally had I known. But by the end of book 1, I wanted to know what happened, so I pressed on - but not at breakneck speed. I left it for 3 years between book 4 and 5 (and another 3 years between books 3 and 4).

The author does a good job of reminding us what's happened previously, even if we've left the series aside for some time. I didn't feel like I was missing any vital information after that long gap - he filled in the necessary blanks.

It's extremely well written and a real page turner. Despite it being three times as long as my usual book size, I read it in the same about 3 weeks that I usually take to read a book - a testament to its enthralling, page-turner nature. Definitely don't let the thickness of the book put you off! It allows the story to be rich and deep.

But if you get really attached to characters, as I do, and you've not yet started this series, I would caution against it. There is just so very much death. If you've begun, maybe just think about spacing out the future books, taking a breather from it.

And now, I can pass this set on to the next person, and reclaim half a bookshelf!

[Bowie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy CRAP this book is amazing! I love this series so much, but this finale is on a whole different level! The end made me feel every emotion known to man and my heart is still aching. James Clemens said a long, long time ago that he might come back to this series some day, and I desperately hope that he does. Because even though this series is enormous and spans years, the end also feels like a beginning. I have so much to say about this book and this series as a whole, but my brain is all whacked out from emoting so much for so long (I marathon read the final portion of this book) that I can't really articulate all my feelings properly right now. I hope to come back to this review and add to it later. (I especially have a lot to say about Er'ril and Elena's relationship and how aware they both are of how wrong their love would be under any other circumstances... I really love the way their relationship was dealt with, it's really beautifully done. I need to go recover now... this series is so damn stressful. But in the best kind of way.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a lot of potential, but in the end this felt like a very forced and rushed conclusion with none of the story arcs being wrapped up in a satisfying manner. Much of the book is wasted on detailed action sequences which would have been better spent building a compelling story. In the very last section of the book we finally meet the "Dark Lord". There is some quick exposition which reveals an interesting back story that raises questions about morality that would have been good to develop maybe 2 books ago... But instead, we're subjected to repetitive action scenes interspersed with corny romances that make no sense. The whole thing reads like a cheesy 90's action movie... All this set to a backdrop of magic that gives the author license to do just about anything without explanation because "magic!".

I wont even get started on the "from first bleed to first blood" thing...