Quick-take: More Power. Done well.

Dan's Review

Fresh off their success, Adrian and Bex are trying to figure out their next move against the Eternal King.

Adrian is banging his head against the wall trying to figure out how to break into the other fortresses. Bex is busy with recruitment. While Bex is having some success, Adrian is getting nowhere. That is until some unexpected help shows up.

As I was reading, I was getting slightly worried this series may drag on with the only change being Adrian and Bex getting more powerful, and so the next enemy they face is more powerful. Therefore, nothing really changes. That is not what happened.

The "things are about the same but more powerful" story arc actually works in this case. There truly was a stalemate going on, and Bex and Adrian needed to change something. The surprise help for Adrian seemed a bit forced. The path Bex took was unexpected and more interesting.

There were plenty of epic battles. Rachel Aaron worked in a bit of my main complaints when that happens... Bex actually goes through a recovery process after a hard-hitting one. Unfortunately, that was about the only break in the entire book. It was epic battle after epic battle. I guess fast-moving is good, right?

My "goes too far" complaint was actually handled in an interesting way.

Score: 5/5: This might be the best entry in the series so far. There is some world-building, but not too much. On to the next one!