It falters a bit in the denouement, when it relies on the (admittedly at the time not very worn) tropes of magic leaving the world now that the story is over., but overall, this was a magnificent conclusion. Alexander expertly weaves the plot elements and characters introduced in the first three, children's story, novels and the fourth adolescent coming of age novel into a satisfying tale of Taran the capable, assured and wise adult. The tale is complete with loss and heartache (though it is still aimed at younger readers, of course), with triumph, maturity and a bittersweet ending somewhat heavier on the sweet than on the bitter. Happy I finally got around to reading this series, even if I almost turned forty before I did. ( )

Actually really poignant. Whether it's deliberate or just a maturation of Alexander's writing, this final book in the series sheds much of the bland, expository dialogue in favour of a poetic, elegaic tone. The series became increasingly aformulaic and, while "The High King" starts out very traditionally, it gradually expands into a mournful yet thrilling climax. ( )

I read the whole series but am just listing this one. Really excellent books. Part of a mythic model of a young boy not worth much who does great things with interesting companions. ( )

After finishing Taran Wanderer, this one just didn’t quite hold a candle to it. It was longer than the other books, so there was more action and the story more involved, that was nice. We were back to striking parallels between this story and LOTR, it’s really hard to miss. Obviously, Taran’s company doesn’t have enough people to match 1:1 with Frodo’s, but it’s still amusing. Also, more of Taran’s friends die in his story than in LOTR, that was much less amusing.

The ending was a little surprising, but completely (I think?) satisfactory. It made me think a lot more than I had expected, especially since Taran was essentially choosing to give up one of the things he had worked toward for the last couple of books. ( )

Thrilling finale to a great series. Have loved these books since childhood & reread every several years. ( )