Much better than the first in the series. There's still too much telling rather than showing, but the writing style is less simplistic and more confident. As before, the plot is first rate.

The production values, however, are a whole different story. Whoever it was at the publishing house who said, "sure, let's slash costs by cutting copyeditors and proofreaders!" should be deeply ashamed of themselves. I've never seen so many typos and formatting errors in a hardcover before.