It has been 15 years since I began the journey of the Symphony of Ages. I have had several questions go unanswered and now, finally, "I have seen the Weaver's tapestry beyond the Veil of Hoen," and it was incredible. Elizabeth Haydon has outdone herself.

"I have seen both the first strand of Time, which was burned when Time was altered, and the second one in which it was remade."

Why was Rhapsody an old woman when she first met Ashe and why was he insane? The tale of the original strand of Time, before it was altered, is finally revealed to us. We learn about a woman from Achmed's past named Werinatha and what became of her. I was shocked to see prophecies being fulfilled that I incorrectly thought had long been fulfilled.

This is the 9th and final book in the Symphony of Ages series and is set 1,000 years after the Hollow Queen. We have so many new characters to meet and I loved them all. I had a little trouble keeping them straight and remembering all their names, but so many had names with such meaning that at times I would tear up or smile to myself and think, "I caught that, Ms. Haydon." Haydon made me feel so much nostalgia, joy, sadness, heartbreak, pure rage and love for the characters who I will miss so dearly. When I finished this book I was emotionally spent and had gone through a good deal of kleenex, I might add.

If you've never read Threshold, the short novel Haydon wrote for the book Legends II back in 2004, I highly recommend it. I had to put the Weaver's Lament aside and reread Threshold because it ties in so well and really shows how Haydon knew exactly where she was going and how the story would end, early on. It tells of the final days of MacQuieth's son, Hector, and his companions who stayed behind on Serendair right before the island's cataclysm and fills in the gaps of the terrifying, near disaster that we learn about in Weaver's Lament.

"That is the end of my tale, with illustrations, my song, a symphony of Ages spanning from before the Seren War in the Third Age to the end of this one, the Sixth Age, which in what little I can see of the Future will be known as Twilight. The paradox is complete." - Meridion

At long last, and with heavy hearts, we say goodbye to Rhapsody, Grunthor, Achmed and Ashe. This was an amazing finale to a wonderful story many, many years in the making! I can't say that it was a satisfying ending because, to be honest, I will never be truly satisfied and will always want more stories from Haydon. She is a dragon's treasure trove of tales and I will wait patiently, as I always do, for her next masterpiece.







 

Loved it!