A phenomenal second book of a trilogy. Sometimes second books feel like a drag, a slog, an author's way of milking the poor reader's time and money to get them to the third book, where the action finally happens. Not this book. Crouch does an excellent job of keeping the reader fully occupied with the story, and leaving the perfect amount of ending vs. cliffhanger to feel both fulfilled with this book and champing at the bit for the next one. I can't wait to see what happens next in this fantastic world.