A solid second book. Oftentimes the second book in a trilogy ends up being a subpar bridge between the set up and the climax (books 1 & 3). However, I actually enjoyed this book more than the first one.

Pharadon was an awesome character and was great as a way to explore the history of the dragons and their relationship to mankind a bit more. The expansion of our knowledge of the magic system was also welcome, even though the rules are pretty vague, the magic manifestation was interesting.

I enjoyed the further development of Solene and Guillot in this book as well, but their characters were definitely slower in this book, and that's why I think Pharadon was a welcome addition. He added some intrigue to what might have otherwise been a slow plot.

Hamilton spends a lot of time inside the thoughts and feelings of his characters, which I normally love. But I will say that the sheer amount of internal exploration done in this book does slow it down immensely. The action scenes are few and far between, which didn't completely turn me off of the storyline, it is still an enjoyable read. Just don't go into it expecting a fast and furious set of action sequences.

The characters that Guillot ends up enlisting for his dragon slayers brigade were interesting, but I would have liked to see a bit more development. Cabham's switch seemed very out of character for the little I knew of him. I enjoyed Val's character, and I'm hoping he comes back in the conclusion.

Ysabeau is questionable for me. She seems a bit too deus ex machina at this point.

Spoiler

Especially at the end when she manages to lift the cup from the altar in the middle of the fight. NO ONE REALIZED THIS??? I get that she's magical, but seriously. Not really buying that one.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the conclusion and to see how Hamilton wraps all this up.