I see I reviewed the first of this trilogy, The Emperor's Blades, some time ago. You can find that review in the book archive over to the right. I said then that I would get the next two volumes, and clearly I must be a man of my word, because I did.
   I enjoyed the two subsequent books, as well. The characters are well drawn, there's a lot happening, and it's hard to see what's coming (a good thing: a few successful twists always make for good reading).
   I will make only two critical comments. One, I felt sometimes that the writer was just making it up as he went along. 'Who can betray who at this point? Oh - I know!' I know the storyline hinges on times of war being chaotic, but that doesn't mean that the book has to feel incoherent. It never did feel incoherent on a micro level, but standing back and looking at the overall plotline... hmm. I wonder.
   Two, I thought the ending wasn't right. Just the last couple of pages. If I was good old Brian's editor, I'd have suggested deleting them and finishing at a slightly earlier point. But I'm not, so I couldn't, and as a result I think the ending lets down the rest of the book.
   But don't let that put you off. It really is only a couple of pages, and everything else is a jolly good read.