Silvertongue

by Charlie Fletcher

Holding the third book of a trilogy (or the final book of a series of any length actually) in your hands always brings an exciting and sad feeling. On one hand you're anxious to see how the story concludes - sometimes a story that you've absorbed yourself into for quite some time. However, it is also sad to know that once you reach the end of this book it really will be the end of the story (at least in most cases.) And while I hate for a good story to end, I also am annoyed when an author won't let a story end, and it gets stretched out so much that it almost ruins the reasons you liked it in the first place. But that's besides the point here.

Silvertongue is the third and final part to the series by Charlie Fletcher that began with Stoneheart and continued with Ironhand. In the series we meet the young boy, George, who by accident is thrown into a alternate reality of London where statues walk and talk and are constantly on the edge of war with each other. The statues made to represent life are called "spits". The makers who created them are said to have put a bit of their hearts into their work and therefore the spits fight for life and what is good. The statues that are made to provoke fear are called "taints" and they include many fanciful creatures and gargoyles that are bent on destruction and who follow the ancient darkness bound in the London Stone. In the first book George reawakens the war between the two factions of statues when he breaks the head off a dragon statue in front of the museum. In his run for his life he is aided by many spits and a girl named Edie that he meets along the way. George and Edie both think they are simply two kids caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but throughout the course of the book they (and we) learn that there is more to each than meets the eye.

In Silvertongue we find George and Edie once again working together with the spits of the city to confront a new darkness that has entered London. The new darkness teams with the old and soon the London of spits and taints is thrown out of time. The clock strikes thirteen, snow falls unceasingly, and all other humans vanish. It is a race against time as George must face his final appointed battle, and all must fight to banish the darkness back to where it came from.

Very satisfying conclusion to a unique and enjoyable series. I'm looking forward to see what Fletcher writes next!