A Curse of Krakens is the third and final installment of Kevin Hearne’s The Seven Kennings series, which I rounded out fairly quickly on the heels of A Plague of Giants and A Blight of Blackwings.

A Curse of Krakens is a fantastic finale to the Seven Kennings trilogy. Oddly enough, I feel like I don’t have much to say about this specific book, because it so wonderfully builds upon the themes and characters of the first two novels and brings them to a fulfilling conclusion (alongside some exciting climactic moments, of course).

As a finale, this story expertly builds upon the narratives of its predecessors while elevating the story’s themes to a fulfilling ending. The pervading themes of grief, loss, and the characters’ ability to pick up the pieces and strive for a better future, both as individuals and as a collective, ring true to the end of the story. In fact, that eagerness to build something better from the rubble is exactly where this story lands.

I could see a scenario where a reader may find this overarching theme too “preachy”, but I find the optimistic, hopeful ethos of this world to be refreshing in a genre that is so often dominated by grim characters and grimmer worlds. I can’t think of a single thread from this sprawling story that was left untied by the book’s end. A Curse of Krakens really is the most fitting end to this series I can imagine.

Steve D