She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This final book in the trilogy was rather special, as long as you love grit, grime, and the final act in a revenge fifteen years in the building.

The Warden has had a nice and long run, it is true, and even after his disgrace and his fallen status as the sneaky and clever peacemaker kingpin of drugs in this detailed fantasy shithole of a town, he isn't one to be pushed too far.

She Who Waits, the third titular euphemism for death, certainly lives up to it's promise, and it just goes to prove that you can't keep a man on a mission down. Especially when it involves the mastermind Old Man or the Warden's old love who was the architect of his fall from the Old Man's graces.

Are we tearing the world down? Are we just here to see the world burn? No. The Warden is still trying to protect both the last dregs of his idealism and his chosen family, no matter how difficult it has become, and he's willing to give it all up to do so.

What a grand tale, emotional and smart and deadly. This third novel ties up all the loose ends that really needed tying, it's true, but more importantly, it rests as one hell of a capstone for the trilogy.

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