There's a lot about this book to love and bits of it that just leave me frustrated. I stand by my comments on Battle Magic that later Pierce needs editing.
And also she's an author I've been reading for so long that it's also hard to separate that from the "I discovered Alanna at 14 and that was one of the defining books of my teenagehood".
And also having the four mages negotiate being adult friends was really well done and interesting. And, in retrospect, I feel like this book covered enough of the contents of Battle Magic. I see why it was filled in afterwards AND I see why she originally didn't bother writing it.