IT HAS BEEN over four years and nearly 2,000 pages since the start of David Anthony Durham's "Acacia" trilogy. So with the release of Book Three, "The Sacred Band," it is practically impossible to revisit and recapture the myriad story lines that have been funneled into this engrossing climax. Suffice it to say that as far as fantasy epics go, the "Acacia" trilogy is a direct and worthy descendant of Tolkien.

Perhaps you are skeptical of the above comparison to Tolkien, but I propose that anyone who has enjoyed "The Lord of the Rings" is most certainly going to enjoy the world and characters that Durham has created in his Acacia. I am not dabbling in sacrilege here and will continue to kneel at the Tolkien altar, but the experience of Acacia was unlike any I have experienced since the realm of Middle Earth.

There were moments during "The Sacred Band" when I felt such enjoyment in the reading that I was transported back to summer days in the non-air conditioned house of my youth with no diversion beyond the book in my hands. In that regard, the book and the trilogy proved transcendent to me.

You may ask yourself if you begin with "The Sacred Band" or do you start from the beginning with "Acacia"?

The short answer is to start at the beginning, because the reader gets the back story on the four Akaran children as well as the history and geography of Acacia and how this mystical world of sorcerers and dragons came to be.

But if you are on a strict diet of only one fantasy book per year or lifetime, then you can wade into "The Sacred Band" and be well-rewarded for the effort.

At one point, the warrior Mena, sister to Queen Corrin, awakens after battle and reflects upon a simpler life before resuming the warfare of the day.

"She hated that those moments were forever in the past. They taunted. They teased her. They would not let her go, but she could not have them back, either. They were moments of peace that seemed impossible luxuries now. Had life ever been so carefree?"

Fantasy lends itself to such reflection and escapism. We all know that life will never be as it once was--that is the nature of life.

But in the Acacia trilogy Durham has managed, at least for this reader, to evoke memories of a time when reading was the most sublime of pleasures and that it still can be.

Drew Gallagher is a freelance reviewer in Spotsylvania County.