I am not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed in this conclusion to the trilogy. It was well written and funny for sure. However, there was far too much happening to adequately wrap up for a final book. Parts just felt rushed and less satisfying. I had higher expectation. I will revisit this on audiobook soon to see if that changes my perceptions.

Candle & Crow is a satisfying end to Kevin Hearne’s Ink & Sigil series. It has the action and silly humor you expect from the series. It also has far more information about the side characters than I anticipated. You know when you finish a book, sit back, and relax with a contented sigh? This is one of those. The book wrapped up enough loose ends to make most readers happy, while still leaving a few things open in case Hearne wants to revisit it later. This is one you will want to buy, so you can reread it later. 5 stars.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC. #CandleCrow #NetGalley

Review to be published on GoodReads on 10/1/24.

I love this author so much. The perfect mix of mythology and humor.
I’m never ready for his series to end.

The final book in the Ink & Sigil trilogy wraps things up nicely. Al MacBharrais has been cursed with two different curses. One kills his apprentices and the other makes anyone who hears his voice too often hate him. He is determined to find out who cursed him and to break the curses.

Before Al can deal with his personal problems though, he has to deal with the Blue Men of the Minch who are sinking luxury yachts. According to their contract, they aren't in violation of any of the terms. Al learns that the yachts they sink are being used by traffickers among whom is a man who is a power behind the government and who also happens to be a warlock.

Al also has to deal with his hobgoblin Buck Foi who wants to start his own family and become the most celebrated hobgoblin of all time. And Al's accountant is starting her own cult around a god who loves whiskey and cheese and who eats violent men.

I really enjoyed this conclusion to the trilogy. I like the way it mixes all sorts of mythologies into an entertaining adventure. I liked that Al finally gets his happy ending.

Hearne's other work, the Iron Druid Chronicles, is some of the best urban fantasy out there! When he started the Ink & Sigil series I was equally excited...at first. The first novel in this new series was ok. It felt lacking to me, as did the sequel. It was just missing something that Hearne's other books had. But since this was a trilogy I decided to finish the series I started. This was by far the best in the trilogy and I am so happy I stuck around.
It does have its flaws (Hearne has had issues with final volumes in his various series. They tend to lack focus and provide satisfying conclusions). But overall, the novel overcomes those flaws and he serves a decent finale.

Nothing will ever stand up to his Iron Druid series and that's ok.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. This is the smashing conclusion of the Ink & Sigil series and Kevin Hearne has done it again! Same awesome characters, same fantastic writing, same distinctive humor, lots of action, and one immensely satisfying story. I am so sad that it’s the last in the series and can’t wait to read whatever Kevin Hearne writes next.

Candle and Crow wraps up a thee-book arc set in Hearne's urban fantasy world, which is populated by gods and witches and druids and many excellent dogs. It's a fine read on its own, as the narrative fills in most of the holes that might be left from the earlier entries in the series, although for full effect you will want to read all three in order. The characters are well-developed and the action is well-paced; overall, it's a fun ride.

Al MacBharrais is a Sigil Agent. He writes the treaties that keep visitors from other planes in line when they visit Earth. He has just returned to Scotland after a trip to Australia to assist the Iron Druid in a fight against an incursion. Al wants to retire. His wife is dead and he is lonely. But, he has two curses on his head, one keeps him from taking an apprentice, who will die as soon as they enter his service. The other requires him not to speak to anyone because they will come to hate him. He wants these curses lifted before he retires. He goes on a quest and discovers from the Sirens that the god of war, Ares, has allowed his two sons, Deimos and Phobus, to actually do the cursing, since Ares is forbidden to curse anyone. He is able to convince Zeus to lift the curse. A very good ending to an enjoyable trio of books.

I love this series! Great wrap up for both series. I'll miss these characters and their adventures. It's been a wild ride.

Sigil agent Al MacBharrais has A LOT going on. So much. The guy is cursed, dealing with gods and other supernatural beings who like to push the boundaries of what they're allowed to do, and the possibility of ever retiring is just a pipe dream thanks to that aforementioned curse. And yet he's making things work.

He has Buck and Nadia, the Morrigan and Gladys and they're managing to keep on top of things. Sort of. I mean, sure, Nadia is probably starting a cult and Gladys is something that scares the other gods into toeing the line and Buck is a hobgoblin with all the quirks and pranks that come along with hobgoblinry and the Morrigan has a tendency to eat the eyes of people who cross her, but they're managing.

And Al? He's figuring things out. One step at a time and all that. He's getting closer to figuring out who cursed him and that particular journey has him crossing paths with a seer who gives him answers to the vexing trafficking problem he's run across back home. Which, in turn, is tangled up with an unpleasant man from Manchester. Seriously, Al has A LOT going on.

That said, this was a very satisfying end point. Al gets answers. Buck gets direction. Nadia finds her happy place (almost literally). The Morrigan redefines herself in a rather unexpected way. And Gladys...well, Gladys is a lady even the gods don't want to cross and she's happy with that.

A little danger, good whisky, gods and monsters, some very good dogs, magic, curses, the power of belief, and one aging sigil agent who's ready to start the next phase of his life. GOOD TIMES!

Ink & Sigil #3
Al MacBharrais has a most unusual job: He’s a practitioner of ink-and-sigil magic, tasked with keeping order among the gods and monsters that dwell hidden in the human world. But there’s one supernatural mystery he’s never been able to solve: Years ago, someone cast twin curses on him that killed off his apprentices and drove away loved ones who heard him speak, leaving him bereft and isolated.

But he’s not quite alone: As Al works to solve this mystery, his friends draw him into their own eccentric dramas. Buck Foi the hobgoblin has been pondering his own legacy—and has a plan for a daring shenanigan that will make him the most celebrated hobgoblin of all. Nadia, goth queen and battle seer, is creating her own cult around a god who loves whisky and cheese.

And the Morrigan, a former Irish death goddess, has decided she wants not only to live as an ordinary woman but also to face the most perilous challenge of the mortal world: online dating.

Meanwhile, Al crosses paths with old friends and new—including some beloved Druids and their very good dogs—in his globe-trotting quest to solve the mystery of his curses. But he’s pulled in so many different directions by his colleagues, a suspicious detective, and the whims of destructive gods that Al begins to wonder: Will he ever find time to write his own happy ending?

There is so much going on in this book as Hearne ties up all the loose ends in the series. This is not a criticism. I enjoyed the cameos and found much of this to be really funny. Hearne's humor may not be for everyone, but it works for me.
Do not start with this book. Nothing will make sense.

Book three in this series. At the heart of the book are two curses. It takes solving several new problems to get to the solution to the curses. A fun read with a good feel as the story progresses.

As this is the final book of this series we get to see most of Al's friends and employees and previous characters we all wanted another look at. Great story and tie ups of existing overall arcs of this series. I will give a spoiler-Al has a happy ending, and it was wonderfully told. Maybe a novella in the future of any one of the main characters? Seriously fantastic ending of a nonstop action for Al and his employees. Thoroughly enjoyable, thank you for this world Mr Hearne and the many characters you brought to life. An honest opinion for an ARC, thank you to the publishers and NetGalley.

This was a nice conclusion to this series! Like always, I enjoyed the hijinks, and the planning of the hijinks, and I am very satisfied with the ending. Hearne's writing never fails to put a smile on my face, and the characters are all so unique and with so much depth. Overall, a read I definitely recommend.

Spoilers:
The mention of Leif at the end was nice, but it made me realize how much I missed him and the Shakespeare battles with the Iron Druid. I am glad at how the curse got resolved, especially Nadia's "creation," and how he helped out. Buck is hilarious, and also so sincere and heartwarming at times. He is an amazing character. I am happy to see the Morrigan happy, or on the road there, but her character was the one I cared about least in this book, maybe I had been getting nervous about spending so much time on her development that I was worried about the resolution of the curse.

I LOVE this series! I'm so sorry to see it end, but what an ending!! Hearne has pulled all the bits and pieces together seamlessly, and done it with his typical snark and aplomb. The character arcs all came to satisfying conclusions without ever feeling overly tidy or rushed. I feel like there is a spin-off series (or two) that could come from this, the way this came from the Iron Druid Chronicles, and am deeply hoping Hearne decides he's not *quite* ready to leave this universe yet!!

I feel like I should reread the entire series now that it is complete, as I'm certain there were fabulous bits of cleverness that I missed along the way - particularly since I devoured each new book as it came out, flying through the pages to get to the heart of things each time. If you don't know his work, you really should - he's a phenomenal storyteller and his characters are magnificently crafted, as are his worlds.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I've been a Kevin Hearne fan for a very long time now, and boy did he not disappoint with this series. This book wraps up a trilogy following Al MacBharrais, a Sigil agent/owner of a print show, and his companions as they work to undo the curse(s) that were placed upon him that prevent him from 1) speaking out loud to anyone for too long lest they develop an intense feeling of hatred towards him and 2) training an apprentice so he can finally retire.

Al, Nadia, and Buck Foi ramped the stakes up in book 3 even higher, and even team up with some more familiar faces from the Iron Druid books and honestly? This was such a satisfying ending to this trilogy I've been enjoying for the last few years. I had such a great time with this and, as always. I'll keep reading anything Kevin Hearne wants to write.

Although I'm sad this is the last book in the series I loved it. I'm hoping Hearne will be creating spin offs with some of the characters he's introduced along the way. As far as I'm concerned Al is enjoying his whiskey while he sits back and recounts stories about the various adventures he's had along the way while entertaining his new love. Hearne's books always entertain.

This third and final book of the Ink & Sigil series provides a delightful resolution to multiple plot points. Along the way the reader gets to enjoy the puns, geek humor, shenanigans, and a few sausages that anyone familiar with Hearne’s modern urban fantasy world have come to know.

It’s highly recommended that any reader not familiar with this trilogy first read book one (Ink & Sigil) followed immediately by book two (Paper & Blood) before proceeding to this volume, the satisfying conclusion. This will allow one to better savor the depths and delights in this volume. If the reader is also familiar with the Iron Druid series, this is set in the same world and there is character and plot line overlap.

A wonderful read that has me raising a glass to toast the best of sunsets. I hope there will be more stories set in this rich world.

Al MacBharrais is cursed, actually doubly cursed. Anyone who hears him speak for an unknown measure of time will start hating him for know reason at all, so Al uses a text to talk application for most interactions. The second curse involves his apprentices, all have died, the seventh one choking on a raisin scone. So Al and Buck Foi, a hobgoblin contracted to work with Al, are on a quest. But they also need to deal with the Morrigan, an Irish death goddess, who has come back from the dead last book and decided to change her profession. Then there is Nadia, a battle seer and co-worker at Al's print shop. She and Buck are in the process of bring the deity Lhurnog into being which could have big consequences. So Al has his hands full! It is interesting how Kevin Hearne is working on bringing all the Iron Druid characters into a more peaceful state. This volume provides a good closure to this series, but I wonder if he will every decide to continue writing more tales set in this universe with other characters. I hope so!

Thanks Netgalley and Del Rey for the chance to read this title!

NYT bestselling author Kevin Hearne brings readers back to the world of his Iron Druid Chronicles, this time dragging elderly Scotsman Al MacBharrais all over the world in pursuit of answers. As one of five sigil agents for the First of the Fae here on Earth, Al’s job is to keep the Fae from terrorizing humanity. Somewhere along the way, he received double curses - one that killed all seven of his apprentices, and a second that estranged him from everyone he loves. We get to see that second curse in action this time, and it’s amazing that Al has lived this long being cursed. Al is determined to end the curses or die trying, and it’s a lovely game of chasing wild geese amid epic sigil agent duties.

Candle & Crow opens with an important note about a tie-in novella, a pronunciation guide, and most importantly, confirmation from the author that this is the “conclusion to the Ink & Sigil series.” The author’s website also confirms that it is “the final novel of both the Ink & Sigil series and the Iron Druid universe!” My heart may have cried a little at that, but there are so many books, novellas, and short stories already written, I’ll have plenty to reread when I miss The Iron Druid.


There were several hooks throughout the first two books of the Ink & Sigil Series that kept readers wanting more, and Hearne doesn’t leave us hanging. We find out for certain who Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite really is and why she’s in Glasgow. We find out who cursed Al, and why. We get more delightful stories about days gone by, and some lovely goodbyes to beloved characters we will all miss. It’s the kind of conclusion that delights as much as it wraps things up.

Candle & Crow is loaded with many familiar faces from The Iron Druid Chronicles, which is a lovely treat. It’s also sprinkled with references to television, movies, bands, and ]books. I’ve added all the books I haven’t read yet to my “To Be Read” pile based on those mentions. There’s a lot to love about this book, though it’s not as funny as the previous books, with the descriptions being more "paint a picture" than "amuse readers.” That doesn’t mean it’s not still filled with wonderful descriptions or memorable quotes. It’s just a more serious book. There are still plenty of lovely flourishes; I was constantly in awe of Hearne’s wordsmithing throughout the book.


My favorite quote, however small and overlooked as it may be to others, was "Calling someone by a name they no longer use is simply rude and disrespectful.” Having a transgender daughter, this one statement meant a lot to me. In the book, there was a request made to a librarian for “Sumhin epistolary and very sweetly gay,” to which Hearne offers one of the many book suggestions, This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. These little nods to a fully inclusive world (however fictional) warmed my heart.


Candle & Crow was a bit chaotic in the middle, but the ending was absolutely brilliant and worth the wait. Candle & Crow is slated for publication October 1, 2024, and I can’t wait to listen to narrator Luke Daniels bring another Hearne book to life.