The tale of Ellysetta Baristani and her trumate Rain, the banished king and queen of the Fey, explodes in a fiery conclusion in the richly-detailed CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME. Although a fabulous book in its own right, the work would probably make no sense to someone who has not read the rest of the series. Each novel is a fast-paced, elaborately woven, layer of not only the lives of Ellie and Rain, but also multiple peoples: the Fey, the Elves, the Tairen, the Mages, and the humans.

To understand all they have faced and all they are fighting for, one must start from LORD OF THE FADING LANDS and learn of Rain's time before he met Ellie, the human awe of the Fey, the true mate bond, the different weaves of magic, and how a simple carpenter's daughter became the one and only for a Fey king who ravaged the world with his flame when his chosen wife was murdered.

CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME fulfills the promise of the previous works by revealing why Ellie was truly born and maintains hope for the world beyond the pages of the story. This series is excellent, so one should attain all five novels to devour at once!