This book was so good and made wading through the first one worth it. It also fixed so many of the issues I had with the first one. Kyle is mostly absent. Yay! Althea is far less annoying. Brashen improves, esp. toward the end. Malta goes from unbearable to me actually rooting for her. Reyn is a sweetheart. The liveships are intriguing, esp. Paragon, and the sea serpent storyline finally makes sense. Kennet is still an excellent Long John Silver type villain, but better. Wintrow though, I’m starting to seriously worry about him.