A marked improvement on the last volume, with hardly any emphasis on the various ways in which the female characters explore their (apparently universal) condition of whoredom. Here they were functioning people independent of their vaginas, and the story benefited from that. The imagery again was the strongest part, and while there wasn't any one image that rose to the level of the previous book's bison, overall it left a very visual impression, and one that I appreciated. I also continued to enjoy having an artist at the centre of the story - epic fantasy is often fairly limited in its character roles, so its nice to have a new perspective.

While it was highly enjoyable I still found it somewhat overlong, but the mosaic's end made up for that. Nice poignant touch I thought, one which resisted the urge to give an entirely happy ending.