Another quite satisfying ending. It leaves a number of loose ends, but they're not irritating omissions; rather, they seem like exciting mysteries, which fits the magical and mysterious feel of the whole book.
I'm noticing a certain similarity between The Rope Trick and The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha (also by Alexander, published in 1978). Both are set in thinly fictionalized versions of real countries several centuries ago, but that's true of nearly all of Alexander's children's books. I'm more struck by the subtle sameness of the magic in these two books. Magic plays completely different roles in the two plots, but the rules about magic are something like this: People who try to do magic are mostly conjurers doing tricks; but sometimes, sometimes they really can do magic.
I've been reading a lot of Alexander since I learned that he died this May -- I read the Prydain and Westmark books when I was younger, and The Arkadians, but I missed all the others. I'm glad to find that Alexander's writing (both his use of language and the stories he has to tell) is still as compelling as it used to be. I'm particularly enjoying the way he writes about family love, romantic love, and friendship; it's such fun to watch clever characters learn to understand and take care of each other, and their love (of whatever kind) seems so genuine.
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