A Tapestry of Lions tells the tale of Kellin, son of Aidan and Shona and heir to the Lion Throne. Kellin is consumed by loss - of this father, his mother, his teacher, his friends, his cousin... everyone who ever meant anything to him and so he shuts off from the rest of the world, swearing to avoid close relationships at all cost. He turns to the vices of his great uncles and great aunt as a way to ease some of his anguish - gambling, womanizing, fighting, hurting those who care about him with his words and deeds. He knows what he is destined for - a seat on the Throne and the siring of the new-come Firstborn - but wants nothing to do with it. And so he rages and attacks everyone and everything. And, even at 23, he has no lir.

And so we come to the end of the Chronicles of the Cheysuli; 8 books in all. This series is definitely an epic - spanning close to 150 years from the time we meet Alix until the time that Cynric is born. In a series that long, there will, of course, be deaths. This is the first time in a fantasy series that I've encountered an author who allows her main characters to die with such regularity - allowing them two books - maybe three - of eight. And the characters weren't thrown away, either... they were killed or died and were mourned. I guess Feist does the same in his Midkemia books, but my impression is that most authors built up their characters and then are loathe to let the go. This author is different and it adds an extra dimension to the series.

The villains, also, are handled differently than most. Tynstar lasts 3 books; Strahan 4 and Lochiel 2. So we're never (until the end) left with world that's safe. Just as the new Mujhar picks up when the old one passes, so too do the new heads of the Illhini. The only particularly odd thing is that when they die, they are surprised. They can't be killed when know what to expect - but the unexpected completely unnerves them.

All in all, I'm glad I spent the time on this series. It ended up being a far deeper, far richer world than I expected. ( )