Review in Book 1 ( )

Couldn't put it down. The story revolves around the aftermath of the plot that was revealed and foiled in the previous book, leading to politics, intrigue and war. Each character is so well-defined and motivated that his or her actions seem perfectly reasonable from their point of view, but seem monstrous with cataclysmic effects to other characters. I ended up really caring about the characters and being saddened when they came into conflict with each other. The use of magic was very subtle, yet had far-reaching effects. The author also somehow makes fantasy banking and finance interesting. Really liked the book overall, thought it was better than the first in this series. ( )

too often excessively slow and over-wordy for my taste; the characters are actually less complex and the world is still too complex in its races (does anyone really know all of them?)
on the other hand, still a very good story, with interesting, believable and alive characters, excellent dialogues and intrigues, nice dilemmas, well-written surprises.
A very good series that I am eager to continue. ( )

I'm enjoying the character development, and will continue to read. But I'm really not sure where it's going. ( )

2nd book of 5 in the series. a good rousing adventure in the epic fantasy style. the world and the peoples in it are interesting, great and subtle villainy is afoot, and the characters are interesting. i can't say yet if it will develop into more, but meanwhile it's an entertaining read. ( )