That's what happens in Shades of Time and Memory (STM): after the happy reunion of Cal and Pell at the end of Fulfilments of Fate and Desire (FFD), problems arise in the not-so-easy management of the royal "menage a trois" and doubts are voiced on what really happened to Thiede. Did Cal murder him? And what will happen without him supervising Wraeththukind? In particular, will Ponclast's seclusion at Gebaddon still hold?

Soon Wraeththu will be facing interesting times, as Cal learns new skills in order to fight an old enemy, Pellaz and Terez find their last estranged brother and Caeru finds himself entangled in the byzantine intrigues of the Hegemony, aided by the dubious counseling of his cunning friend, Velaxis. Cobweb shall come to terms with his identity in a most dramatic situation, when he will seek the help of his old friend Lisia, the protagonist of Wendy Darling and Bridgette Parker's fan fiction novel Breeding Discontent. Second-generation hara such as Abrimel and Tyson will play an important part in the dramatic developments shown in Shades, and the bewitchments of love and hate will reign again on Wraeththudom. Not only that , but questions voiced on the real nature of the sedim and on the way Thiede managed to tap the Otherlanes will begin to be answered. There are more things on the Otherlanes than our Wraeththu friends ever suspected, and not all of those are benign.

I think Shades is a marvelously crafted novel that follows magnificently from both WWP and FFP. Cal, Pell,Cobweb and Caeru's personalities are perfectly coherent whit their depictions the previous novels, and show perfectly plausible and unexpected evolutions, particularly as shown in the mixed feeling of Cobweb in encountering the renewed Cal, or Lisia not initially recognizing Cobweb. New characters are introduced, and I'm especially fond of one of hem, the innocent, gentle Moon, an exquisitely depicted young har full of the curiosity of young Lileem.

Shades is an epic, magical, sometimes tragic and sometimes poetic tale that rivals Bewitchments, and the action timing is perfect, without the unevenness found by some in WWP. The magical and cosmic aspects mingle perfectly with the mundane affairs of politics and love, and Storm's style is at its peak in this novel, I believe. I trust Ghosts will be at least as good, if not better.