I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so I was excited to read the second one, but I have to say I was disappointed.

Shadowplay abandons the circus setting that I found so interesting in the first book. Instead of Micah continuing to learn the trapeze, he finds himself living with a magician and studying to be an illusionist. He'll probably end up with a musician in the next book and learn to play the lute or something, since picking up new skills seems to be pretty easy for him.

Long portions of the book are spent describing the magic acts Micah sees and performs in, and for me they just stopped the action entirely. Also stopping the forward momentum of the narrative were the numerous flashbacks to the long-forgotten past of their ancestors.

Then there's the whole political unrest angle. Lam is already juggling a lot of fantasy elements here (ooh, maybe Micah will learn to juggle next!) -- mysterious ancestors, dueling magicians, telepathy and magical powers -- not to mention Micah's gender identity/sexuality; she doesn't quite manage to do all these aspects justice. The class/social issues don't feel integrated into the story enough to be of interest. Maybe it will all come together in the next book, which I do intend to read, but this one just seems all over the place.