along the way, bad things happen

**contains spoilers**
Have you ever read a book that you weren't that into but kept plowing through because you love the author and were sure it was going to get better? I just finished Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt. It took me forever because I kept putting it down for something else. The first 3/4 of the book was depressing and I had a slight hope that the end would be less depressing. It was, in a way, although the main character dies. After I finished it I read the back which noted that this is the third in a loose sort of series. Apparently I'd skipped the first two and now I have to decide if I should go back and read them or not. If you're wondering about the plot, it's about two boys who escape a hellish life only to become captives of a roving band of killers & pillagers. They escape from them and become puppeteers as part of a plan to get one of them into a tournament that will allow him to gain an earldom (earlhood?). Along the way, bad things happen.