Okay, so yes, the fact that the climax came through a freaking letter was horrific. King to you. In fact, that point was the "one problem" that I had with the book. Well, with the last third or so actually.
Letters and story summary overcome the actual stuff thats more character interactive, which really bothered me. I was pretty disappointed the first time through because of this fact. And the ending just felt blah because of it. This time through though, I kind of stepped back and just enjoyed the way the thing was written. The ending bothered me a bit, but not so much this time. Though there is something that is important: Basso just got his sister's son killed. He loved his sister more than anything or anyone. Maybe that was why he gave up? Who knows. It's not in the book, as some would say. As a whole, I thought the story was decent, and I really enjoyed the way it was written. Of course, if it comes to picking a book with a decent story with great writing OR a great story with mediocre writing, I'll take the first option every time. Why? Mostly because the way a story is written is such an integral part of the reading experience for me. I completely agree with Steve about The Company though. That ending was just horrible. No matter how good the book could have been. Yeah.
And huzzahs to you as well, Nessa. Thou art an Elitist. While I'm only coming in somewhere around third place...