I thought this was a great final ending to the series! Sam wasn't nearly as pathetic this time around and Lirael kind of found her place in the series. I appreciated the backstory on the world and the bells, and about the Dog and Mogget. Though they were both a lot simpler than I had hoped. I also thought that this book finally allowed the bells to be used a little more and expanded Death a lot more.

(view spoiler)[But can I just say that binding is a stupid way to stop things? Then they can always break out again! Which, I suppose if you're an author is what you need to happen to make an epic adventure.

And while I'm in the spoiler, I just want to say how much I loved the 9th gate of stars to pull people toward death. It's where we all come from and in the end, it's what we all become again. I don't see why spirits would be so insistent upon struggling against it, though. I suppose "the undiscovered country from whose borne no traveler returns" is just as Shakespeare said it. (hide spoiler)]

I felt the ending was kind of like the ending in Sabriel, where there was some closure but not really, you know, a lot. Nothing about how they deal with the aftermath, which I think a lot of the time is the more interesting and gritty part. Overall, I thought the characters were much better developed in this book, perhaps because it started in the middle of the adventure rather than having to introduce us to the characters. The story was filled with action and adventure, and was a rousing end to the series.