The Last Apprentice #11: Slither by Joseph Delaney

This book is the eleventh in the series, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Slither is another blood-sucking creature, but he makes a deal to protect a farmer's daughters in case of his death. Slither must deliver two of the daughters to relatives, but he gets to keep the third daughter to sell into slavery. Along the way, he ends up killing another high mage and two assassins, so he must travel to the city of Valkarky to plead his innocence in front of their court. He discovers Grimalkin being held prisoner in the dungeons, but he knows nothing about her great powers and ruthlessness. In the end, Slither must fight to save their lives, but will the fight be against Grimalkin, or with her?

I almost didn't read this book, because it has all new characters and a new setting. It seemed strange to abandon the characters and plot from the first ten books in the series, but Grimalkin tied them together in the last fourth of this book. The plot was interesting, but I found the newness of the setting and terms to be a little distracting. Not necessarily bad, but it was something else for me to think about. Grimalkin returned to her land in the resolution, so I assume the "regular" characters in the series will meet up with Slither in a future book.