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In this final chapter of the Sovereign Stone trilogy, the journey towards the Portal of the Gods continues as the races of man, elf, ork and dwarf bring their shards, torn apart by King Tamaros so long ago, to be reunited. Will they reach it before Dagnarus, Lord of the Void, can catch up with them? It proves to be no easy task as friends are lost and Dagnarus and his army get more powerful with every step.

First, well, maybe not the first thing Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman do, but nearly, is to break the reader's heart. Bashae, who was such a powerful and important character in the last book looses his life to a Vykryl. After he passes his piece of the stone on to Baron Shadamehr, who refused to carry it in the previous book, he goes to sleep, and his grandmother and his best friend Jessan essentially pass from the book. I wasn't really thrilled with this at first, but I think that this is the way they've been doing this series, moving the focus from book to book to another set of characters. The new group includes the very likeable elves Griffith and Damra. As the passing of the Sovereign stone switched the perspective to Bashae in the last book, it switches it to Barron Shadamehr in this. The baron is an interesting character, filled with bitterness toward the gods, yet despite any protestations he may be tempted to give on this, optimistic. His love for Alise and his bravery all make him worthy of admiration.

I still miss Bashae, though.

Dagnarus continues to be an utterly despicable bad guy, his hubris leading him to do things that make little sense, even as his seemingly endless power make him a formidable enemy. We actually spend a surprising amount of time with him. Half the things he does our heroes never discover. Sometimes, when we spend a lot of time with a character, even the antagonist, he becomes almost likable. Dagnarus never does. He revels in his cruel actions, and when he pats himself on the back, calling himself a skilled warrior, it comes off badly, whether it's true or not. He has brought the indomitable taan to this world, and their huge army is they key to his success, but the way he treats them is terrible He hounds our heroes, helping to create fast paced action. The Vykryls add a dash of creepiness to the mix, exemplifying best of all why the Void must be stopped.

Everything is tied up neatly in this final book. Journey into the Void rounds out the series well, and I think people who have been waiting to see how all the different paths, laid out by Weis and Hickman, in the series came together will be far from disappointed.

Cindy Lynn Speer loves books so much that she's designed most of her life around them, both as a librarian and a writer. Her books aren't due out anywhere soon, but she's trying. You can find her site at www.apenandfire.com.