You Have Paid the Piper
I really hate it (and I emphasize the word “hate”) when a series starts out with a strong premise only to have it fizzle out into something completely forgettable at the end. The Piper has become one of those series that can’t decide what it wants to be. It can’t make up its mind if it wants to be a moral tale, a tragedy, or a cheap horror story.
The only good thing about this issue is that it brings this series to an end. I’m just sad to say that it’s not a very good one. I suppose I could say that Sean’s ordeal with the Piper has left him much wiser, and he has learned from his mistakes. Not that it does much good though.
I suppose I could ramble on for a while about just how bad the ending to this series is, but I’ll try to condense it. The biggest issues I have with this issue is that all characters seem to do a heel face turn in ways that are not convincing at all. Sean has lived in fear for most of the series, but at the end he decides to stand up against The Piper and faces him with his very own duct taped together violin (yes you heard right). The final plot twist at the ending is so clumsily handled that you can just see it coming and it is not at all surprising, and just ends the series in a mediocre way.
This entire series has been carrying the theme of bullying, and perhaps in the ending the bully was “The Piper”, and Sean boldy facing him was a sort of message saying “stand up against bullying!” If that was the idea though, it could have been handled so much better than it was. I really hate that this series ended on such a bad note for me, because I really wanted to like it, and be amazed with it. Unfortunately all I got was another mediocre tale that will be filed away amongst my collection. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever read by far, and much of the series holds up to be a pretty solid tale, but it’s flaws causes it to fall into the mediocre category which to me, is truly disappointing.
