I loved this book! The first book in this series was difficult to get into but I'm glad I did, since I enjoyed this one so much.

These books are rare fantasy novels that feel relevant to the modern world. As I write this in 2018, our world has become driven by people who feel only certainty, and have no respect for reality or honesty. Their followers surround themselves with reinforcing narratives and tune out the evidence that doesn't fit.

In a move reminiscent of good sci-fi, these books take that idea of belief as a weapon and turn it into a supernatural threat. The most dangerous thing in this fantasy world is false certainty, against which doubt is our only weapon. (Well, it's one of our two weapons: the other one is a magic sword. This is high fantasy, after all.)

In this book, we start to see the effects of that certainty: an evil empire has arisen, and the nations of the world are realizing how helpless they are against it. Our heroes, a little older and wiser than they used to be, are struggling to find a way even to fight it.

I've always enjoyed Marcus and Cithrin, but in this book we get to see a lot more of Master Kit and a whole new side of Clara Kalliam. Their adventures here are entertaining, but the looming advance of the Empire gives them a grim undertone. As a middle book, the conclusion isn't very conclusive, but in this case it just left me that much more excited for the next one.

I've turned around in my opinion of the villain Palliako: I used to despise him, but the more I read the more I sympathize with him. If he had been left to his books and his hobbies, he would never have harmed anybody, but it was just that isolation and social ineptitude that made him the vessel through which all this harm has been done. It's tragic. Of course, I still hope he gets his head chopped off.

My only complaint with these books is that the prose is a little clunky at times. The directness of the author's voice is effective at getting the point across, but sometimes leaves the more high-flying fantasy elements feeling flat.

Overall, highly recommended to fans of smart fantasy (start with the first book, of course).