Alright, alright, fine. I actually liked this book a little bit more. It's clear that Mr. Weeks had a full-fledged plan for the entire series when he set out and this book definitely fleshes out the characters a more, and, mercifully, is a tad easier to follow story wise.

Where the first book was all names and weak descriptions, the established world and characters in the second book of this trilogy has less of a problem with that and more of a problem with spelling/grammatical errors (thanks, editors) and too convenient, deus ex machina, unerring fail-safes embedded within the story. However, it is not nearly as distracting as trying to figure out what a Sa'kage is or a ka'kari. The man does love his apostrophes.

There are a few new characters, a few new terms, and a few new places, but with the chorus of already established nouns going full force, I didn't struggle with turning the pages so much. And, to compliment fairly, this WAS a page turner. It took me 19 days to read, sure, but I wanted to go through it faster. What held me back this time was simply, exactly that...time. I would have devoured (see: ka'kari) this 600 page novel pretty quickly if I could.

To avoid spoilers, especially if you haven't read the first book, all I can say is that it's a more streamlined story, with better insight into the characters, and perhaps just a touch too much melodrama. Regardless, a fun read and a good continuation of a story I didn't believe in too fiercely. Dare I say, I'm looking forward to the third book in the trilogy.