Crown of Renewal

The concluding volume of the Paladin’s Legacy fantasy quintet (after Limits of Power) is far more cerebral than action-focused, with layered plots tying up most of the threads among the main characters. Kieri and Arian, king and queen of Lyonya, are figuring out just how special their elven-blooded twin children are, and they must defend themselves and their newly-established elvenhome against an old villain Kieri thought long dead. Former thief Arvid Semminson is getting more responsibility than he bargained for, just in time to come to the aid of magic-wielding children threatened with murder. Duke Dorrin Verrakai of Tsaia is forced to make an almost certainly one-way trek to the wasteland of Aare, where many of her world’s legends began. The wrap-ups with longtime nemesis Alured the Black and Kieri’s enemy feel a bit too easy given all that’s come before, but otherwise the conclusions are satisfying and almost meditative amid multiple new beginnings. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary Agency. (June)