The final of the Solomon trilogy. Each book gets better. This last novel was excellent. It includes WWI. A candid observation on a tragedy caused by the incompetence of the privileged. Highly recommended read

Well written story, interesting history and well developed characters but again too much dialogue, too long and too slow

Amazing finale for this trilogy

This 3 book series is quite good. As the author always needs to sell each book as a stand alone title there is always pages and pages devoted to recounting the story in the previous two books in order to catch up on all the background lead up.

I started this trilogy by reading the second book (Tommo and Hawk). I loved both characters, and I was excited to read Solomon's Song to understand 'where they went'. While Tommo's plot was satisfying, that of Hawk left a lot to be desired. I feel like I've been robbed of a conclusion for the Hawk character.

The character development for Tommo's family seems rushed and is also unsatisfying, as others have mentioned. Hinetitama (Tommo's daughter) is a character and personality I start to enjoy, and then Courtenay ceases to write about her. Then Hinetitama's children are never truly developed as individuals. I would also like to know more about Joshua Solomon (David Solomon's grandchild), but I never really learn about him, either.

While the war elements of this story are enjoyable enough, I felt like I knew characters like 'Wordy Smith', 'Library', and 'Crow' better than our protagonist Ben Teekleman. While I understand that considerable research went into the plots concerning Ben's adventures overseas, I just didn't care about then. In fact, I was distracted. I kept wanting to know: What about Hawk? What about Victoria? What about the Potato Factory? Unlike the other books in this trilogy, which allow you to skip from country to country to follow characters, once the story moves to Ben - Ben is all we hear about.

When I realised I only had 50 pages to go and I still had not heard anything about the characters still residing in Australia, I realised that I was never going to get a conclusion on my beloved Hawk.

Basically, this book was okay enough to read, but disappointing in its conclusion.

three stars for most of the book was ok... ending... was awful. I mean after a trilogy??? no epilogue? terribly unsatisfying...

for those who say I have no imagination... this is true... that is why I paid good money for a fiction book.

3.25 Stars

I can’t recommend this trilogy enough! All 3 books had me laughing and crying and totally engrossed.

The last book in the Trilogy of the Solomon family. Was just as good as the first two. I could not read the first two without reading the last.

Review coming.

I felt this book was more an accounting of events rather than the telling of a story. It was long explanations with some dialogue thrown in. It was still a good story, and I'm glad I read it, but you don't get the same connection with the characters. It seemed like the author really wanted this to only be a trilogy so he felt the need to throw everything he wanted to say into this book. As an Outlander fan who loves long drawn out sagas over multiple books I felt Solomon's Song could have easily been two or three more books giving voices to the new characters rather than trying to cover 50+ years in one book.

The story picks up not long after the last book ended. Tommo is able to avenge Hawk and Maggie-pie but eventually succumbs to his head wound from the Maori wars. As Mary is getting much older, she insists that Tommo’s daughter Hinetitama is brought to Hobart to continue the Solomon line and take over the Potato Factory. At first Hinetitama resists, she instead becomes a trained nurse and works with the unfortunate Maori on the streets of Auckland. However, she eventually falls prey to her father’s weakness for alcohol and when Hawk finds her destitute in Wellington with a Dutchman named Slabbert Teekleman, he does take her to Mary in Hobart. While Mary and Hinetitama become close, Hinetitama refuses all the suitors in Hobart insisting that she is in love with the Dutchman. When Mary brings Teekleman to Hobart against Hawk’s wishes, Hinetitama marrys and has two children, Ben, the much loved eldest, and Victoria, Mary’s prodigy. Soon the Solomon life is upended when Mary dies and Teekleman gets Hinetitama back on the drink and they disappear leaving Hawk with the children and The Potato Factory.

Hawk wishes to expand The Potato Factory from Hobart to Melbourne. There he finds an almost built brewery reposed by the government. To his surprise, it was previously owned by Ikey Solomon’s vengeful son David Solomon, his son Abraham, and the third generation, Joshua. Under Hawk, who is trying to make right for his and Mary’s taking of Ikey’s fortune, creates Solomon-Teekleman company. The company is left under Abraham as chairman with his authority to choose either Victoria Teekleman or Joshua Solomon to come after him.

Fate intervenes in the story when Australia is called to aid the English in The Great War and both Ben Teekleman and Joshua Solomon enroll and are sent overseas.

I enjoyed the read. It was my least favorite of the three books but I felt like the 650 pages flew by. I wish there was more on Hinetitama, maybe even before she comes to Hobart, but maybe that would be Tommo all over again. Mary is still a great character. At page 317 the main character goes from Hawk to Ben as he joins the war effort. The story is engrossing, but almost too real and very sad. I didn’t mind the ending, but maybe would have liked to see how Victoria and The Potato Factory faired in the end.