Quick-take: Solid entry. Time to exit.

Dan's Review

Eli Monpress and crew are out on another adventure. It's a continuation of the previous book (naturally).

Actually, there are several plotlines, and the book juggles them nicely. The big prize is Eli himself, though he is not the main star. He is still a bit godlike in his abilities, but the book explains why he does not use his powers sometimes.

Josef finally embraces his strength and gets thwacked. A big criticism I have with this book and others: Not every battle has to be epic. It is perfectly OK for the hero to once in a while show off their superhero abilities and soundly and quickly defeat their opponents. Despite being an amazing swordsman with the world's best sword, I cannot think of a time when Josef simply conquered his opponent without a major struggle. I think he spent 3/4 of this book healing. Rachel Aaron actually found a reason to handicap all her superheros (Boo!) so the battle can be more intense... Well, actually all of them except Nico.

I would say Nico is the real star in this novel. Her story and inner struggles are on full display. However, it got a bit repetitive. It is pretty exhausting for her to "about to give up" for days on end... she continually reaches the edge... and there always just seems to be more ledge... until she finds a way to retreat.

I'm liking Miranda more in this book. She is powerful, narrow-minded, and has strong morals. Rachel Aaron makes very good use of how that is both a strength and weakness by dropping Miranda in the middle of a bunch of smarmy characters. Straight-talking pragmatism clashes nicely with no-shame conmen.

Score: 5/5. Despite my complaints, I thought this was the best entry. However, I have no desire to proceed with the follow-up books. I think the series is turning a bit episodic.