This is the book sort of sets a trend for the later ones that I'm not a huge fan of, which is breaking the story up into two distinct sections - in this case the journey to Ikaya and then Ikaya itself. The first part feels a bit too much like an extended prologue, and it leaves too little time for what I would call the main attraction. It is better than book two though, because there're plenty of branching paths and very little unavoidable bullshit. Still a couple of dead man walking scenarios though, which is not great. But it's a solid entry in the series. You really see how ludicrously overpowered the Sommerswerd is though. The only fights that are at all challenging are the venomous creatures that can kill you in one hit, and that's kind of cheating in my view.

---

The collector's edition bonus adventure, Vonotar's Web (by Laszlo Cook, Joe Dever & Nathan Furman), is a bit of a disappointment. You play as Loi-Kymar and the adventure details how he came to be Vonotar's prisoner. And it's that choice, to tie it so directly into the main adventure's plot, that holds it back. Because it needs to get you to that canonical ending, there's not a lot of opportunity for the player to actually influence the, well, anything.

And obviously every one of these books has a canonical ending that you have to get to, but usually you don't know (the first time you read it) what that ending is. And there are potentially different ways to get there. But not in this case. Vonotar steals the Guildstaff and you know he's going to capture you and make you use it to take you to Ikaya. Anything that happens in between sort of feels like a waste of time.