Slither

This book has almost nothing in common with the main story line of the series. It takes place entirely outside of the County, with only 2 characters from the previous books - and they aren't the focus of this book. The creatures and rules of magic in this book are different. It's almost as if the author got tired of the world he had created and wanted to take a break with something completely different.

2.5
I am very thankful that Grimalkin shows up to make some connection to the rest of the series. Not a lot of substance; I couldn't connect to the characters.

This book is a marked departure from all the others in this series. This biggest change is that Tom Ward, the titular last apprentice, isn't even in the story. The only pre-established character from the series that appears is Grimalkin, and she only appears well into the second half of the story. Slither is a Kobalos haizda mage (there's an extensive glossary in this book). He's has three human women as his property and they're having a real bad time. The story is interesting and becomes much more so when Grimalkin enters the picture. But it was a bit off-putting to find this entry to be so different from all the other books in this series.