ONE DARK THRONE is a pretty good sequel to THREE DARK CROWNS, but it feels like it's not sure which role to play: final book in a duology or book two in a long series. Since there are more sequels, the second option won out, but the story doesn't seem to know that quite yet, and it suffers a bit for it. It was definitely easier to stomach than the first one, with much less animal death (but still some). I think the human body count is lower too, now that the big shows of dominance and power are exchanged for more pointed attacks. It does mean the deaths which do occur tend to get more individual focus in the narrative. It's an okay continuation, but where book one was drenched in poison, book two mostly gestures with the threat of it. Since book one poisoned me once, it was enough to keep the tension until book two delivered, but I wasn't nearly as stressed while reading. 

This wraps up several things left hanging from the first book. I don't think it has any major storylines that didn't exist in the first book, since most of the big events are ones which were planned in the first one (provided that the main characters survived to reach them). Some big things are resolved, but most of them were introduced in the first one. This leaves some things to be picked up in further books, but if the series ended right here I think I'd actually be okay with it. There are more books so I will keep reading. The main narrators haven't changed, though the mix of minor and secondary characters who occasionally get to narrate is a bit different. The narrators are definitely different people, but the style of the narration is pretty consistent across narrators. It works since the whole thing is in a rotating third person view, getting the thoughts of one character per chapter but never quite narrating from their perspectives. It's a good thing this is the second book because it wouldn't make much sense without the first book. There's enough explanation to refresh a returning reader after a gap, but the first book explained a lot of backstory and this volume only lightly attempts to re-explain things. Since it's book two it's not a big deal, but I'll be watching as I continue with the series.