A good follow up of Crier's War, but I really think the story would benefit tremendously if there was a third book, or at least more pages.

When Ayla and Crier meet again at around the halfway point, so many events take place that the second half felt rushed and it was crammed into the remaining pages.. I had the impression everything lasted about 10 minutes, before we had to move on the next event. I wish I learned more about the alchemy. I wish I learned more about Queen Junn and her court. I wish there was more behind the two necklaces. I wish Ayla had more lessons from Lady Dear. The revelation of what happened in The Iron Heart felt glossed over. The ending was anti-climatic. There are no loose ends, though, except that one unidentified person, maybe, but I always just wanted to know more.

That said, the relationship betweeen Ayla and Crier was beautifully written. I also wanted to give props to that one letter that discusses the universe; not only does it suggest that humanity before the War of Kinds had science, but it also mirrored the beginnings of our modern cosmology after Newton published his laws of motion and gravity. I love it when real world science is woven into a fantasy story.