Another good read by Mr Sweeney. A lot of the same things I said about "The honour of the knights" are true here. It's the book equivilant of an action movie. I found it perfect reading for short bursts, like lunch breaks and commutes, but maybe not for a long evening curl up. But that may be just me.

Again more time is given over to action, though this time it mostly has a more ground based twist than last time. At times it can get quite muddy and confusing then suddenly clear itself up into brilliance. For example, I really like the evacutation and "sled ride" bit and remember more of that than the entire end space battle. It sometimes seems like Stephen can really do well on the bits he is interested in but can quickly lose focus on the joining narrative.

It's similar with the characters. It's weird that when compared to the first book that the focus has changed somewhat. Of the "knights" the supporting cast from the book all now have interesting quirks and personalities. They have been developed quite well and now all show a bit more dimension. However Dodds has kind of faltered and remains quite bland and very cookie cutter.

That being said, I still enjoyed the book as another fun bit of action. I'll certainly be buying the next book as I am actually very curious over the overall plot. Give the series a go!