Luck of the Wheels [Paperback]

I'll admit that, as Robin Hobb, I've always believed that this writer didn't know how to finish a trilogy. With this one -- and okay, it's a quartet -- she's really proven me wrong.
Anybody who's come to love Ki and Vandien through the earlier adventures in this series will be absorbed in this one right from the start. The sluttish Willow is easy to hate, and when at one point it seems that she'll seduce Vandien right out from under Ki's nose my blood literally boiled.
I struggled with the difficult Goat right from the start. Despicable, yes. Pitiable, yes. Dangerous, yes. It seemed that there was no choice but that he tangle our duo up in something they really didn't want a part in.
A fun adventure, an exploration of racism, the human condition, the bond between two people, the concept of personal honour and self respect. This book has everything.
Damn but this writer's good.

Despite drawing to a close this enchanting series `Luck of the Wheels' is yet another uniquely original and well-plotted story, colourfully bringing to life a small group of characters and their navigation of beautiful, yet increasingly danger-ridden lands. However, this happens to be a stand-alone story in many respects, just as I felt the previous book (`The Limbreth Gate') in the `Ki and Vandien' series had also been. Themes explored in the first book (`Harpy's Flight') such as the relationship between Ki and the harpies, and in the second book (`The Windsingers') such as Ki's kinship with that particular group are not addressed at all in this story. I hadn't felt there had been as much resolution of those issues as there could have been in the previous books and now with this concluding part it seems there never will be. This is however the best book in the series in my opinion since `Harpy's Flight' and that's reason enough to celebrate.

It's the only disappointment I have with this series and admittedly, it's a small one and it's made even more insignificant when you consider that the other riveting theme of this series is stepped up yet another gear in this story. It is of course the relationship between Ki and Vandien themselves. In finishing this book I realise that this series has been less about flesh, feather or feminine demons, as it has been about the inner demons of Ki and Vandien and their unspoken love for one another.

An emotion that Lindholm is particularly adept at inspiring in her readers is a fury for those characters who are almost the antithesis of our heroes. There are two characters who join Ki and Vandien on their final journey into the untravelled and unfriendly southern lands and they are the volatile Goat and whirling-dervish-like Willow, both of whom I found equally infuriating, but who nonetheless contributed to my speedy consumption of this story.

Another quality you've probably come to expect of this author's writing is that as often as she's able Lindholm pulls on the heart-strings of her readers by subjecting her beloved characters to ever-increasing danger and this story is no exception- there's quite a bit of heartache in this story, which I won't spoil for you by going into here. Suffice to say that although the finale came far too soon for me, I found it an appropriate way to end the series. The `Ki and Vandien' quartet is one I'll very likely read again, I enjoyed it that much. Thanks Megan.

This is the fourth and final book in the Windsingers quartet (after Harpy's Flight, The Windsingers and The Limbreth Gate).

In this volume, Ki and Vandien, having trouble finding employment in the South, accept an unusual cargo: they must bring Gotheris, the teenage son of a local villager, to his uncle in the city of Villena where he is to become a healer.

What should have aroused their suspicions was that everyone seemed happy to get rid of "Goat". He'll turn out a strange and tortured boy indeed. That combined with all the rest (the despotic local Duke's Brurjan patrols, the rebellion, the runaway girl Willow) will turn what seemed like an easy stroll into quite an adventure. The money was just too good to be true!

I found the first half of Luck of the Wheel rather slow, with just the team plodding through the countryside and Goat and Willow being difficult, and I was wondering where the story would be going to. Eventually, the pace picked up and the last third proved genuinely gripping. I now realize I grew quite fond of Ki and Vandien and I'm pretty sad to leave them behind.