Zachary McConnell

Ended this book literally tears rolling down my face. Not because I was moved but utterly disappointed. Reading this book was agony from start to finish. Felt like being forced to watch while a beloved hero takes all my favorite childhood keepsakes and burns them. I must admit, I had expected disappointment but not to anywhere near this degree. It was a violation. It was a blatant disregard of the author's responsibility to uphold the integrity of established characters and lore and follow the story wherever it leads, no matter how painful, or complex. I am coming to understand that the person who wrote those books has been so thoroughly repressed that the beautiful complexity of human understanding and imaginative world building has all but disappeared from his writing. He doesn't know these people anymore. he doesn't understand their universe anymore. He doesn't believe in their ideas anymore. And so he had no business writing this at all. It's a disgrace. I have thus decided that this is not the way this story ended and that the real final story was lost forever. Do not let the title or the author deceive you. The man who wrote Children of The Mind and Shadow of the Giant passed away long ago along with the true ending to this saga. Whomever wrote this should be ashamed at having made us all wait so long to find this out. I would have mourned him and this story and moved on. As it is, I will not reread this, and will promptly forget its contents (trust me, its not hard to forget).