When I reached the end of this book, the sixth and final volume of the Lymond Chronicles, I was emotionally drained and somewhat bereft, I had a head full of thoughts but little idea of what to say. I’m not sure that I have much more idea now, but I am going to start writing and see what happens.

I was lost not just because I had reached the end of a series of books, but because the world of that series of books was so vividly realised and the drama that was playing out in that world was so captivating that I have no choice by the be pulled right in; and because the depth and detail was such that I knew I hadn’t seen and understood everything. I will go back one day; I have known that for a long time, and my return became more and more certain.

This sixth book opens not long after the fifth book closed.

Lymond is in France, having been propelled their not by his own wish but by the wishes of friends who knew that the course he planned himself – a return to Russia – would inevitably lead to the destruction of his life. He was still set on that course, but the French were well aware of his talents and his value to them, and so a choice was set before him.

He could stay for one year in the service of France, after which he would be granted that annulment of his ‘marriage of convenience’ that he had been seeking for some time; and if he chose to reject that offer, the French would see that the annulment would never be granted.

He chose to stay.

This opening led into a glorious cavalcade of dramatic scenes; from a spooky and unsettling spell in the chamber of the Dame de Doubtance; to the unveiling of a character in disguise that I was so happy to see again; to a chase that echoed another in ‘Queens’ Play’ and that told me how far the characters had come and their relationships had evolved ….

I could go on, but I don’t want to say to much to anyone who is still on their journey through this series of books or to anyone who is contemplating starting that journey.

The time and place for this final act was perfectly chosen, and worked so well for those individual scenes and for the story as a whole. The court was preparing for the marriage of their Dauphin to Mary Queen of Scots – who had appeared as an infant in the very first book if this series – and the military was fending off the English, who were understandably concerned about the strengthening alliance between their neighbours to the south and to the north.

There are still two main strands to this story; two continuing quests:

• Phillipa Somerville was still working to uncover and untangle the history of the Crawford family, in the belief that truth and honesty were always the best thing. The evidence that she uncovered seemed contradictory, a rational explanation seemed elusive, and she would be led to a very dark place that might destroy and would certainly damage her….
• Meanwhile, Francis Crawford, continued to try to loosen the ties that bound him to others, to find his own place in the world, and was quite prepared – and quite willing – to die in the attempt rather than compromise. He found though that he had to do everything that he could for the people who loved and had served him, and that maybe there might be a way that he could do the right thing without having to break those ties ….

The evolution of these two complex and engaging characters over the course of six books – her from a child into a capable and accomplished young woman; and him on a journey far to difficult to neatly summarise – has been an utter delight.

Every significant character left alive was dawn into this final story. I found that I gained new understanding of some of them, that I wished to have seen rather more of certain others, and that there were one or two who were compromised just a little to allow the story to play out as it had to.

I want to say about this last book the same thing that I said about the first –  I was captivated, I had to keep turning the pages, and it was lovely to be able to listen to someone so much cleverer than me, who was so articulate, who had so much to say about a subject that she loved, talking at very great length …

Her quality of writing; her world building; her depth of characterisation; her story telling; I found so much to love.

My favourite moments in this book were the most wonderful declaration and the realisation that I had been held in suspense to the very last page, suspecting but not really knowing how this grandest of stories would end.

I would love to know what happened next, I would love to read that stories that must have been happening before and after and to one side of the stories in these six books; but all I can do is go back and read then again, because I am quite sure that there are things that I have missed, I know that there are things I don’t quite understand, and I am certain that there is more to be revealed on a second reading.

Even if there wasn’t, I would want to step back into this world and live though this glorious telling of the life and times of Francis Crawford of Lymond and Sevigny again .