Throughout Unnamed Memory, the mysterious Valt, along with his companion, Miralys, have been operating in the background. At times, they’ve meddled with events that have drawn Tinasha and Oscar to them, and in their scenes, the pair has been waiting for an opportune moment to enact their plan, which has something to do with the fact the world can rewind time thanks to artifacts.
With Death of the Nameless Story being the sixth and final volume of the series, it’s time to learn what they’re after. But meanwhile, Oscar and Tinasha’s wedding is approaching! This should be some of the happiest days of their lives.
However, Oscar senses his fiancée is growing a bit distant, like she’s becoming a different person…
Most readers will predict the story will go one of two ways: either Tinasha and Oscar continue to live in this time period, or somehow time is manipulated once again. In the latter’s case, most likely, it would mean returning to the world of Act One, but there are other timelines, like the one where Oscar died as a child. I’m sure audiences are familiar with works where there’s a conflict about whether people should alter history if they could, and perhaps you’ve even had a debate with their own friends about what would you do if you could go back in time. This question is at the center of Death of the Nameless Story, although it may take a little bit for the novel to pick up the pace for this theme instead of flirting and quick conflicts.
In these pages, we see Oscar worrying about Tinasha sliding to a more aloof, cold, pragmatic state instead of the childishness young lady he fell in love with — in essence, becoming the Witch of the Azure Moon of legends despite her not being a witch in this timeline. Their romance continues to be the foundation for the series, but for me, the biggest surprise was Valt. Again, I’m sure most readers have theories about him, and volume 6 dedicates quite a bit of time for him. I think even the most accurate guesses by audiences will slightly miss the mark about his backstory and/or motivations and how they play into the novel’s final developments.
I am of mixed emotions when it comes to the ending. It seems from the afterword there is a title (book? series?) set in the same universe which also doubles as a sequel to Unnamed Memory. Even though I had heard this was the last volume of this series, when I saw “END OF ACT TWO” on page 269, I really questioned whether that was correct. The book doesn’t end until page 313, and even disregarding the author’s notes as well as the guest commentary, that’s still quite a bit of content. These sections feature a mix of short and lengthier content in different settings (and timelines), and based upon how Act Two ended, I really thought this was the start of Act Three.
Quite frankly, I’m stunned there isn’t an Act Three, as there is a whole source of material ripe for adventures and explanations. Because of this, the ending feels sudden, and readers don’t really have time to digest the truths (and decide whether they like the outcomes or not) here before sending the characters packing for the exit. There are also a few individuals I wish we could have witnessed their finale with Tinasha’s and Oscar’s as well.
But if nothing else, the question of whether the world stays the same or (un)resets it is going to draw people in, and Death of the Nameless Story includes a lot of its predecessors’ strong points with the two leads’ love story and their fighting acumen. But I think the ending is going to scratch some heads, both in deciding what is the correct answer in a time travel scenario and an obvious Act Three setup that won’t likely ever come to fruition.