Ahoy there mateys!  This is the third book in the Warden series.  Aelis de Lenti has been sent back to civilization and her old alma mater to help defend her mentor against a murder charge.  Aelis is thrilled to be back in the city but intimidated by the enormity of the tasks set before her.

While I did overall enjoy this book, there were some issues I had with it that felt similar to those from book two.  What I enjoyed about the first book was how character driven it was.  Book two then opened up the world a bit more and it happens again here.  I found I didn't' really care for descriptions of the city's automatons, buildings, wines, or clothes.  Politics gets more attention here and, frankly, its just boring.  Power for the sake of power.  Not a lot makes sense upon reflection.

Also, Aelis NEVER really has a plan.  It is supposed to be her modus operandi but I wish she would have growth in this area.  She took forever to figure things out.  Also I feel like so many of her solutions were to fling money at the problems.  Aelis doesn't want to be known for her family but uses those family connections at the drop of a hat.  She treats her friends with discourtesy.  She seems to have become rather hateful and lost those gains she made in Long Pine.  Also her greatest hardship seemed to be losing some sleep.

Aelis did so much at the last minute and with little thought.  The pacing was extremely slow in the middle.  I wanted Aelis to make plans with her friends and work together instead of running around all over the place.  I did like two gnomes in this.  One was at the fashion store and the other became Aelis' sidekick.

I am not sure if another book is planned as most crew are discussing this being the end of the trilogy.  A big long-range plan was set-up at the end though so who knows.  I will read another book in this series if one is written.  Arrrr!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.