This book has come as a very pleasant surprise - intelligent, gritty, perceptive and quite challenging (especially in terms of narrative structure). I do feel as if I'm missing pieces of a much larger puzzle, as some aspects of the story were obviously related to what happened in earlier books in the series (I didn't realise it wasn't a stand alone!), and I think I would benefit from a re-read, to be able to judge it properly as a whole. Nevertheless, I'm pretty impressed, and I will be seeking out more of Welch's books.
I like these characters and the world she’s built for them and there are lots of important themes being examined here, lots of thought about choice and time and relationship and purpose. This is not an author who falls for the mirage of tying up all the loose ends in happy bows. She loosened a couple of knots but and left some hints at the resolution of a few more but there were several questions unanswered as well.
A second reading. The novel ties up the story threads of Elzith and Tod, though the ending seemed a little too "god in the machine" for my tastes. I liked this better five years ago when I read it the first time, did not hold up that well.