Unfortunately, I was delayed a few days in writing this review, so I have lost a few of the first impressions I had upon finishing. However, on the whole I thought this was a very solid second novel. It can sometimes be very difficult to follow up after the "big bad" has been defeated. And I think the author did a wonderful job with the realities of that. I also felt that each characters' growth was reasonable and their interplay was well crafted. Also, the author was not afraid to add and kill off major players: Dox (who I felt was sorely underdeveloped this book, making his death nowhere near as sad as it should have been), Clubs, Tindwyl, Zane, Cett. And turning the "selfless act" at the Well of Ascension on it's head was inspired, I thought. We will wait to see how the defeating of this new, "bigger bad" goes.