Still good, but the final volume in the Darwen Arkwright trilogy slipped a little. Darwen, Alex and Rich continue their fight against Greyling, the power-mad man/thing taking over Silibrica and eager to take over our world as well. This final book doesn't have a smooth flow though. It often feels like it's leaping randomly from one place to another, in both worlds. Although everything that happens and everyone they meet in these scattered and abrupt adventures all tie in to the climax of the story, they still feel awfully scatter-shot along the way. Alex finds ways to be sarcastic, even in the middle of the most deadly events, Rich seems to be able to figure out how to operate and reconfigure machinery from another dimension, and no matter how much violent action is taking place, Darwen always finds time to ponder the meaning of the events. This stands out particularly at the conclusion of the book when all hell is breaking loose all over the place, and yet Darwen, Rich and Alex manage to find time to discuss the possible meanings of everything that's going on, and ponder the moral character of some of their classmates and teachers.
That's a lot of criticism. If you've read the first two books and enjoyed them, I think you'll find this worth the read, but it won't live up the first book in the series. ( )