I think it is a good sequel. It is different from the first book in some big ways, but that just makes for good variety. The first book dragged you quickly through a strange world, explaining little, but still teaching you how it works. Now you are no longer dragged. You are left alone, and we will see how well you learned your lessons.

In more direct terms, while the first book had a first-person main character (Cheris), the main character now is a black box. You see what they do, but you need to think hard about what they are up to. But also I think there is less action and more dialog and intrigue. I had some complaints about the prose in the first book, but it is perfectly fine here. There are still interesting philosophical themes about the role of militaries and the people who make them up, but perhaps not as much as in the first book.

The setting is expanded generously: we learn a bit about the Hafn and a lot about the other Hexarchate factions. But there is still a lot of room left. I felt the first book was more complete than the second. I cannot wait for the third!


Kujen was conspiring with Jedao! And now he has disappeared!

He is a revenant, like Jedao. I was convinced he was actually possessing Cheris, and that is why we were pushed out to a third-person perspective. He was adamant on recovering Cheris after the carrion bomb. Even if that failed, Cheris+Jedao may have hooked up with him between the two books. The window of opportunity is there: we know nothing of that period.

In the end nothing supports this theory. Looks like it is just good old Cheris+Jedao. But then where is Kujen? What was his play with Jedao back then, and what was it now? Did he engineer blowing up the "improved" immortality device? Is he possessing Zehun? Zehun felt like a character built up for no identifiable purpose. And the slight delay in Zehun fetching the Mwennin girl? Why even mention it if it does not matter? The Mwennin girl altogether felt out of place (she had no plot role), so my bet is she is going to be a point-of-view character in the third book.

Cannot wait!