As an avowed Daniel Abraham aficionado, it's no surprise that this is getting a full 5 stars from me (as did the first book in the series, The Dragon's Path).

Abraham excels at character. Dawson and Geder Palliako continue to be extremely interesting characters. Dawson, representing political conservativatism and strictly class-centric, is fantastically well done. Geder is equally fascinating. I can't think of any characters anywhere I've read like them. In this novel Clara gets more time and becomes a fuller character.

As befits a second book, this one outshines the first. The stakes (and mistakes) are bigger. Abraham continues to surprise me as the story develops.

This is as good as fantasy gets. With George R. R. Martin having lost his way, in my opinion Abraham is the master of the craft now.

Bring on the next one.