Review 2012 (1st read) This one tells the story of Trull Sengar and is actually - at least so it seems - a prequel to what is happening to Trull in the House of Chains (#4). Again seemingly unconnected to the rest and yet the Crippled God makes his appearance again. Again wonderful new characters. My favorites this time? Brys, the King's Champion, Iron Bars and of course Tehol and Bugg.

A little bit of critique is necessary however: this time there are too many new characters that are introduced without so much as the tiniest explanation and it seems to me all the time that I should remember Iron Bars for example. I think it's time I visit Wikipedia before all this gets too confusing.

There were a few unnecessary deaths in my eyes at the end. They did neither do much for the plot nor much else. They just obliterated a few open ends.

Anyway the plot is intricate as always the characters vivid and there is yet another convergence of
different paths into one fulminant finale.

Updated Review 2016 (2nd Read): Re-reading the series this one has been the toughest book to get through, despite my love for Tehol, Bugg, Shurq and Brys... I had trouble finishing the story. I was listening to the audio most of the time and probably missed a few of the details. At some point I was wondering why I didn't skip the book during this re-read and find myself a summary. As opposed to the other books where I was looking forward to certain epic--often tragic--events, in this one I just wanted to get to the end which I already knew... The most fascinating part of the re-read are the obvious political allusions Letheras provides the reader with. I found them even more pronounced this time. Without naming names... one can't escape the obvious criticisms of the thoroughly gruesome capitalism in Letheras.