I continue to overestimate these books (affectionate). I guess I just thought, given it's the end of a trilogy, the longest book so far, there's a special new type of dragon, that there would also be conclusions and levellings up. Maybe it's unfair to say there aren't. But the way this series progresses is through re/discovery, rather than successful proactive work, and that can cause the main characters to feel rather passive by the end of it. This is particularly the case when they instantly work out what they've rediscovered, so there isn't even any tension, because they're just fated to know.

Two stars and a wish, because I have those:
Star: So glad I read the Harpers Hall books first, was delightful seeing the characters from that here.
Star: I thought the final pages with Lessa were lovely. Gorgeous to end up back where the first book started, yet so much further along.
Wish: I hoped for more from Ruth, he was just so special in so many ways, and I wish there 1) had been more exploration/examination, 2) had been more done with it than fire lizards (good) and putting a new spin on the weird mating stuff (whatever).

Of course, the whole series is ultimately wish fulfilment on a higher level, right. What if you were a cool youth who was liked and included by the best guys on your planet? What if you had the specialest dragon? And a hot girlfriend? And could sort of Challengers with both dragon and gf at once? What if you lived on a tropical paradise beach and you really could have it all because of teleportation? The issue here is that a book of this length cannot really be sustained on having all a teenage boy's dreams come true - the story needs something chunkier.