Crystal Line is the third and final book in the Crystal Singer Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey. It picks up the story of Killashandra over a hundred years after the events of the previous book. Killashandra and Lars have been a rather productive and prosperous team of cutters for that time even as Killashandra’s memory continues to deteriorate. As the guild master Lanzecki grows older and his symbiote gets worse he starts training Lars to potentially take his place. One of the last things he does is send them to evaluate a mysterious crystal on another planet, a crystal that potentially may be sentient, at least somewhat anyway. After their return Lanzecki makes a final voyage to cut crystal in the ranges which leaves Lars to eventually become the new guild master, something which Killashandra is not prepared for. As time continues Lars starts worrying about the future of the guild which leads to worry about the memory of crystal singers. Something that Killashandra is also not prepared to face as her memory gets even worse during that time.
I have to admit that I feel like the ending is for this series is somewhat anti-climactic in some ways. It does feel like an ending mostly as it does wrap up the story of Killashandra and the Heptite Guild by showing how they are moving away from the past and towards the future, whatever it may be. At the same time I feel like there could still be more about what that future might look like. Perhaps I also feel like that because there were so many layers to this particular story that could have been explored more as well. It was an incredibly well written and multi-layered story which I definitely enjoyed reading. There was the interesting adventure with the potentially sentient crystal and there was the idea of trying to find ways to help restore or improve the memory of crystal singers in the future, both of which could have been explored more. However, while there were more possibilities for this potential storyline the incredibly personal storyline of Killashandra, and to a lesser extent Lars, does feel like it was mostly wrapped up. We got to see how they function as a couple in terms of their life as crystal singers and as high ranking members of their guild. There were plenty of obstacles in their way in regards to their relationship and their role in the guild throughout the course of the book that provided plenty of conflict. I was fascinated by the continuing development of their relationship and how it affected or did not affect their role as crystal singers. This is certainly a unique setting that creates some rather interesting storylines. While I am sad the story is over I was overall satisfied with the story of Killashandra and happy with the outcome. A great book and a great ending to the series so I am happy giving it four out of five stars.
This book is a great example of science-fiction, if a bit of an odd one at times. If you happen to enjoy science-fiction or are already a fan of Anne McCaffrey then I highly suggest you consider this series. While I would recommend you read the previous books for this series to better understand this book you should be able to get through it without that background if you really needed to. This book is predominantly aimed at adult readers and I would mostly agree with that. While there is not a lot of violence there are mature references and borderline mature content at times so it may not be entirely suitable for younger readers. At best only older teens or young adults should read this and not anybody younger than that. It is a pretty good series though so I hope you will genuinely consider trying it out. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you do decide to try it.