Since Spellslinger, readers have followed Kellen's adventures and seen him through his highs and lows, triumphs and struggles, following his development as a person. I value characters immensely due to their importance in leading the events in a story and it is very satisfying to see how Kellen can grow over the course of these books. In long book series, characters are part of the primary reason readers will still continue following the author. Sebastien de Castell understands this and gives it his all in Soulbinder to show us how Kellen shines under pressure. Sebastien de Castell also tries to move out of formulaic writing which plagues long series by changing up what we have come to expect out of this series by giving Soulbinder plots and storylines different compared to its predecessors.