Harpist in the Wind is the third and final book in the Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip and concludes the tale of Morgon and Raederle. It picks up a mere week after the end of the second book with Morgon and Raederle trying to decide what to do next, though they somewhat agree they will be doing it together. Ultimately, they end up deciding they will travel to meet the surviving wizards and work with them to defeat the remaining shapechangers. However, this is not necessarily an easy trip as they are continually followed by the shapechangers and the harpist, Deth, along the way making it a perilous journey fraught with both physical and emotional danger. Both of them must also work on overcoming their own worries about their respective powers and destinies, whatever they may end up being. Raederle must also continually convince Morgon that she is following him and that he really needs to just work on accepting that because she is not changing her mind.
While I was sad that this series was over I also was rather happy to finally get some answers. I mentioned in my review of the first book that I felt like there were more questions than answers and there was a lot that really needed to be answered or explained. This book finally did just that though many of them were not anything close to what I was expecting and there was a lot of unexpected twists and turns throughout the book. I did feel like it did the storyline and the characters justice though as they finally got their own answers as well. Obviously, I can’t actually reveal the answers but I will say that looking back on the first two books a lot more makes sense now that I know the answers. The two main characters or protagonists of this book were the two we met in the previous books so we get to see their continued development and they get a lot of character development here. I like the way they were developed as they remained true to the way they were previously portrayed while still growing and adapting to their changing circumstances and knowledge. The plot for this book was probably more intricate in many ways than the plot of either of the two previous books due to the mysterious twists and turns that take place. It was because of this that I also often felt like things were rushed and the book had a fast pace. Sometimes I barely had time to digest what had just happened before they were throwing more information at us so it could have been just a little slower paced in my opinion. It didn’t harm the book any as the characters frequently experienced the same thing but it did make it harder to keep up with the events going on at times. Overall, it was still a good book and a great way to end the series so I am happy to give it four out of five stars.
This was a good example of a fantasy series with some pretty decent world building so if you enjoy either fantasy or good world building than you should consider trying this out. Make sure that you read the first two books before reading this one or you will be lost though. The background they contain is crucial to understanding this one. I highly doubt this series would hold a lot of appeal to readers who don’t enjoy fantasy but if it sounds interesting consider trying it anyway. In terms of recommended age range this book is primarily aimed at adult readers but I could also see it being read and enjoyed by teen or young adult readers as well. There is some violence but it is not overly violent or extremely graphic so it should be fine or older teens or young adults but I would still recommend that it should probably only be for readers older than about thirteen or fourteen. Again it is a pretty good series overall and I hope you will consider trying it out. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.