Not bad for a second in the series. Bujold seems to have avoided most of the issues that plague the second volumes of trilogies - of course this is a tetrology(?), so maybe the issues don't arise until the third book. You know what I mean - even Tolkien loses momentum in The Two Towers. This is overall at a slower pace than the first book. Actually, in many respects, it is a continuation - it picks up literally in the same minute that the first ends - of course, so does The Two Towers.
In Book 1, Beguilement, Bujold takes her mixed pair back to Fawn's farmer family and resolves those conflicts. In this one, they go back to Dag's people and find that the conflicts are beyond reconciliation. Bujold leaves us in no uncertainty about the contempt with which the Lakewalkers, the protectors of the world, regard those whom they protect.
Bujold has set up at least the next volume pretty well. With that out of the way, she can get on with what she does best - spinning tales about intriguing characters.
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