I had mixed feelings about this book. As with Lackey's latest books, they end much stronger than they begin. I thought the character interactions in this installment of her Jouster series was much weaker than they were before, and in some cases, seemed very off. I couldn't believe Kiron's mother, nor the romance between him and Aket-ten. Still, the book managed to somewhat redeem itself with the epic battle scenes at the end. I loved this series when it first started but I had to force myself to continue reading this one.