I enjoyed this fourth installment of the series featuring Geekomancer Ree Reyes and her merry band of social misfits. Returning are her mentor Eastwood, her boss Grognard, her crush Drake, and her girlfriends -- one of which (drama alert) is dating Drake. The story starts with a bang, pitting Ree in an online duel with Lucretia, the antagonist of the previous novella, [b:Attack the Geek|18170539|Attack the Geek (Ree Reyes, #2.5)|Michael R. Underwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394148873s/18170539.jpg|25539388]. While not required reading, I'd highly recommend reading the novella first, if not the entire series, to better clarify the overarching plot and its main players.

From there, the pace bogs down a bit in the second act, with relationship melodrama regarding Ree's friend and Drake, and Ree's feelings toward Drake, etc., that I could have done without, but it picks back up for the third act. The climax brings closure to the series, resolving a lot of lingering plot threads from as far back as the beginning of the first book, [b:Geekomancy|13609386|Geekomancy (Ree Reyes, #1)|Michael R. Underwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334886014s/13609386.jpg|19206590]. While this series may not end as a trilogy, this book functions as an end to its first trilogy -- although technically there are currently three novels and a novella.

This series is basically urban fantasy geek candy, with brisk action and tons of nods and references -- steampunk, epic fantasy, comic book, space opera, cyberpunk, and more. While most won't get all the references, as I am sure I didn't, all geeks will get a good amount of them. And like Ernest Cline's [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406383612s/9969571.jpg|14863741], that is a good part of the fun.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.