It’s this humorous weaving of the mundane with the mystical that makes Robinson’s writing so distinctive, and also the reason why Jared is such a memorable hero. These cataclysmic elements are juxtaposed against the more ordinary things that make up Jared’s life: his love of cooking, the complex dynamics of being friends with an ex, his battle with alcoholism, and his dream to “work as an ultrasound technician in a mid-sized hospital”. He’s set off a chain of events that he can only hope won’t end with himself and everyone he loves dying. In this final installment, we join him at a point of no return. Normally, Jared would tell him to fuck right off, but his organs were running amok in the hospital bathroom and he had no pride left.” All his relationships changed now, except the rotten one he had with his bio dad. “The insanity of magic Jared had unleashed left him with no way to deny he was a Trickster himself, that he was part of the crazy, that his amateur dabbling has created a shitstorm that had eventually landed him in Emerg. This could make the book sound wonderfully whimsical, but it’s grounded by a gritty, coming-of-age story about a boy who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere with his family, his friends, or with the other supernatural beings that start to inhabit his life (and eat his toes). We’ve been with this annoyingly awkward, yet loveable teen as he’s uncovered who he really is, one of the 535 decedents of Wee’git, a shapeshifter that can travel to other dimensions.

This is what happened to me and other Eden Robinson fans who have been following the character of Jared Martin since the first book in the Trickster trilogy, Son of a Trickster.

When you turn the final pages of a story that’s spanned several books, you have built up a relationship with the characters, and it can be heartbreaking to say goodbye.

Eden robinson return of the trickster