Much more of a downbeat than I’d have liked. I don’t think this has enough going for it intellectually, to sacrifice the flow of plots for slow intrigue and tactics. The characters, though developed much more than the first volume, aren’t quite believable in that capacity. What’s more, annoyingly, none of it really matters, as gotcha plotting happens to close out the larger arc and move on to a new era. It’s fine, but similarly to the protagonist, I’m not sure why I should care anymore? Do I see what the next arc will be or not? Honestly, feeling a lot more ambivalent about it than I expected after a better last volume.