Beyond the shadows ends all of the ongoing story arcs, and it even sneakily puts in a jumping of point for the next series set in the same world. There's some world building mostly in the part of learning a bit more of the history of the world, and there is a fair bit of character growth as well. It's definitely a fun read although reading the previous two books is kind of a must, but that should not be surprising as this is the third book in a trilogy.