After 5 books, I am super-proud of myself that I managed to figure out HALF of Gen's tricks. The other half had me sit up and swear at him, confusing my husband since I don't usually talk to fictional characters. And he STILL hasn't read this series (it's almost like he's in the middle of a series he is really enjoying and wants to finish that first...).
Anyway, in her article on Tor.com (found here: http://www.tor.com/2017/05/24/rereading-the-queens-thief-series-megan-whalen-turner/), Natalie Zutter hits the proverbial nail on the head about this series. After the second book, we the readers have to get out Gen's head because we already know he's going to pull some brilliant trick. We have to watch him pull the trick off from someone else's eyes - we have to be in on it, waiting to be surprised.
This book delivers on that promise, and does so in a way that both builds bridges with the books that came before and expands our understanding of the world of the Queen's Thief. I'm so glad I found this series and that it holds up so brilliantly, despite somehow missing it when it first came out when I was a kid.