Obsession and madness, dark powers and grim prophecy, and (of course) unsoftened depictions of violence abound in this volume. These are the strengths of the series, and they are well-represented here. Its greatest weaknesses are the departure from much further depth of character development for the "heroes" of the story, the lack of attention to some of the more interesting subplots established in earlier volumes, and the grotesque cover art that makes it easily the ugliest volume of Ubel Blatt on my shelf -- but, apart from the art, these weaknesses make room for other new things rising, infusing the tale with some new tensions to keep things going. ( )