It was nice that this book was much shorter than the last one which nearly killed me in length. (Not that I mind reading long books, but since I'm reading all 6 of these in a row, it's been a lot of pages) However, I wouldn't really call this a continuation novel, it was more of a solo character peek. The Forbidden Land follows Finn the Cat through a new adventure. I am quite endeared to Finn so I didn't mind reading about her character or the others in the Healing Hand band, but I did miss Isabeau's presence greatly. Also, Iseult has basically disappeared from the books (3 & 4). Her character is there and has a few scenes, but her personality is completely gone. And while I hate Lachlan, his character too has evaporated in the sense that he is now a completely different person, BUT we never SAW the change. It just randomly happened. I could have very easily been appeased if a few lines had been thrown in explaining his change like "after ruling the country and having matured with the birth of his three children, Lachlan was now a man of character and patience" blah blah blah etc. I did really enjoy his battle scene so that at least made up for it. Overall, this book is rather random in the sense that it doesn't fit into the line up of the other books. It feels like the author wrote the first three books as a whole and then her fans wanted more, or she couldn't give up her characters, and started writing solo books. I'm not necessarily against it, but it is very different style/approach than the other three books.
