Centuries of wizardly scheming, slavery and slaughter reap apocalyptic fallout in this final volume of Chima’s trilogy. As the wizard Houses lay siege, magical refugees flock to the sanctuary of sleepy Trinity, Ohio, where adolescent wizards and warriors assume most of the burden of protecting the town, torn between the savage world of magic and the demands of school and family. Smuggling the immensely powerful Dragonheart talisman into Trinity triggers a cascade of heroism, intrigue, courage, deception, sacrifice and betrayal, as six increasingly desperate teenagers seek to master it before everything they love is destroyed. Heroes and villains alike are swayed by achingly human motivations into disastrous choices with devastating consequences. The graphic violence and the shifting narrative push this into YA territory, but it is anchored there by the agonizing withdrawal of adult support and the overwhelming sense that these young people are abruptly forced to take responsibility for a world they had no hand in creating. The resolution is—like the end of childhood itself—tentatively hopeful, if not triumphant. A superlative accomplishment. (Fantasy. YA)
