It's been a while since I've read these books, so I'm writing this review based on my memory of them.

I thought this trilogy was incredibly well written--as a trilogy. When I read book 2 I had to check a couple times that I was in fact reading the sequel to this book, but then book 3 ties everything together.

Warning: There is some extremely adult content in these books. Not just in acts described but also in motivations and nuance. And I don't mean "erotically describe happy sex times", I mean "careful description of sex times that maybe shouldn't be happy" and, iirc, torture as well. I think that if you can stomach that, the trilogy is definitely worth reading.

Trilogy spoiler below.

Spoiler

Hekat is one of the few examples of a female villain in epic fantasy. She's the protagonist of book one--but throughout the series it becomes obvious that she is the actual villain. That transition is masterfully written.