Tyrant is a bigger book than Monster, and a definite step in the right direction. Monster was claustrophobic, the primary plot occurring inside a maimed Baru's head, and on a series of ships and islands crammed with fellow spies and agents, pursued by implacable hunters and in pursuit of an ancient and elusive enemy in the form of the Cancrioth.

Tyrant starts much the same way, but Baru rapidly levers open space to gain freedom of action to do what she does best, spin dizzying plots where you choose the best move for your opponents to make. Her enemies, the cryptarch judge Durance and the multifactioned leaders of the Cancrioth, a sect of sorcerers who worship uranium and pass down tumors, are hardly pushovers in the same way that the dukes of Aurdwynn were in the first book. Baru has to solve a lot of problems with limited resources, weaving deals between factions with various apocalyptic weapons while trying to minimize collateral damage and keeping up her goal of destroying Falcrest.

Tyrant is long, but solid, and leaves Baru in a truly interesting place in the heart of imperial power. Being two parts of the same journey, Monster and Tyrant are really best served as one book, (and one which could be a good deal shorter), but more time in this world is always appreciated.