Ian's Review of Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater

    Greywaren is the final book in the Dreamers Trilogy that I have been reading for the last couple of months. As I stated in an earlier blog post about the 2nd book, I discovered this series through reading the main series it is a part of; the Raven Cycle. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series (along with the main story) so I had high hopes for this book, and I can say with confidence that this book surpassed those expectations.

    The main reason I enjoyed this book so much is due to it finally giving answers to most of the mysteries that have been present throughout even the main series. Many of which relate to the magic system/worldbuilding that I am a big fan of. The main form of magic in the series generally has to do with certain kinds of people (known as dreamers) who can take things they dream out of said dreams. But there are also seemingly impossible creatures and abilities of some people that have at first glance no connection to dreamers. They end up being chalked up to energy that can be found on certain lines called ley lines. Greywaren dives deeper by asking questions like where does this energy come from? What beings are connected to this power? What would happen in a world without it? And finally, what is the Greywaren?

    The Greywaren was never fully explained in the main series. At first, it seemed to refer to an object that allows one to take objects from dreams, then to dreamers, and finally, as more dreamers were introduced, only Ronan (one of the main characters of the original and spinoff) was the only one ever referred to as Greywaren. Up until this book I had been wondering why that was and I find the answer this book gives very intriguing. I also loved how the book goes back in time to tell the story of Ronan’s origins, which really helps to flesh his character out more.

    Finally, I will talk about the characters; I like them all. Normally when reading I have a character or two that I just kind of tolerate, but Greywaren does a good job of making every character justified (or just fun). My favorite character is probably Ronan as I really liked seeing his development from the first book of the main series to now. Also, all of the stuff involving the Greywaren is super interesting and hugely adds to his character. Although I also enjoyed Declan (one of Ronan’s brothers) and his struggles with his family. Overall, I think this was a great concluding chapter to a series I love.