The saga continues...our characters introduced in the previous book, "The Vorrh" are now deepening in complexity. The main focus of this book is the strange awakening of the beings called the "Erstwhile".  These are billed as angels that failed to protect the Tree of Knowledge. However, the characters in this second chapter don't seem to be aware of this. Small events and interactions with the Erstwhile slowly peel back layers of time and insights for the reader - and for some of the characters themselves. A new character, a piebald child, is introduced and it was difficult for me to guess in which camp to place her - evil or good. The last third of the book just ignited and turned into quite the page turner for me, connections and syntheses exploding left and right. The curtain was being pulled back little by little, however it still hasn't been fully raised - the author leaves us with yet another cliffhanger - blood racing, ready to crack the third volume.