The Relic Master/Book of the Crow series ends well, mainly because the arch-bad-guy gets quite a bit of on-stage time; a rarity in high fantasy. It's interesting to get a glimpse of his motivations and character. An alternative (eye-witness) version of events in the era of the Makers is presented - but how reliable is it? In fact it seems much more believable than the legends that have been handed down by the Order for many generations. This change of perspective on events reminds me of what happens multiple times in [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]'s Earthsea books, where different view points and revelations about the past alter the reader's views on what has been going on, making everything much less black & white. [a:Catherine Fisher|190887|Catherine Fisher|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1309461768p2/190887.jpg] does not reach the level of sophistication LeGuin achieves, but it adds a lot of depth to a world that is already realised in greater detail than many of her earlier efforts. Further revelations about the Sekoi also contribute to this.

The denouement is rather predictable in general terms and the aftermath is glossed over, which is a shame, because the aftermath is rarely examined in quest style stories even though it often presents challenges to the characters that are different and possibly more demanding than those of the quest itself. The state of the world at the end of many quests is dire and frequently a power-vacuum prevails. What happens then? The Scouring of the Shire in [b:The Return of the King|18512|The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)|J.R.R. Tolkien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1332630185s/18512.jpg|2964424] is the only example that springs to mind of trying to deal with this in a serious way. Since the entire primary plotline of the second book in this series is redundant, getting rid of it and having a book that follows on from the situation at the end of this book would have been much more interesting, with great opportunity for further character development in the two young protagonists.

Over all, this is one of Fisher's better series but none of the books individually is a match for her best books, such as [b:The Oracle|2858847|The Oracle (The Oracle Propehecies, #1)|Catherine Fisher|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327972908s/2858847.jpg|323288] and [b:Incarceron|332775|Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)|Catherine Fisher|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327414514s/332775.jpg|323310]. ( )

The Margrave, by Catherine Fisher, is the fourth instalment in the Relic Master series. In the book, the main character, Raffi, is being hunted by the evil creature, the dreaded Margrave. Raffi and Galen, his master, live in a world called Anara, which was created by the Makers. One of the Makers, Kest, created an evil creature called the Margrave. Supposedly, the Margrave controls the evil Watch, the police force of that world.
The watch is evil, and is trying to destroy the Order, who is fighting the restraining rule of the Watch. Raffi and Galen must find the Margrave and destroy it to save their world, which is slowly being devoured by the Unfinished Lands.
The Margrave, in my opinion is an excellent finish to the Relic Master series. The author writes very well, considering that she must deal with Anara’s strange sayings and expressions. In the middle of the series, it kind of slowed down, and got a little boring. But this has the perfect climactic scene at the end to finish off the series. Also, I found that the characters were very interesting. This is because she goes into deep detail about all of them, which I found very helpful. The Margrave is a great book, and I would recommend the Relic Master series to anyone with an active imagination.

A very fine conclusion to the quadrilogy. I loved the interweaving of ecology, environmentalism, and spirituality. Raffi comes into his own, Galen admits his soft side, the Sekoi reveals his secrets, and Carys changes her tune. Fisher is a master storyteller whom I'm glad to have discovered. ( )

At this point, I can't keep asking myself why I'm reading this series. I thought it started out okay -not amazing, but it was still fun and exciting. I slogged through the two middle books, at times thinking that it should just dump series altogether, but persevering because I always end up finding some little scene or chapter that reminded me of why I kept going with this series.

In The Margrave, Galen and Raffi find themselves at the perilous Pits of Marr, where something evil awaits them. Not just evil, but frightening and sinister.

And in The Margrave, I think the entire series finally came together. To me, this was an excellent and exciting ending to a fun series that finally grew into its potential. While it is, of course, not as good as Incarceron or Sapphique, The Margrave was a satisfying ending to a fun adventure.

Great for younger teens and middle grade readers. ( )