The assassination begins a war between the Empire and the sleepy outlying nation of Greenaere. The Empire begins drafting humans and Teckla into its army, which adds to the growing uprising within the Empire. Cawti is arrested twice. To save Cawti's life, Vlad goes against his House.
I love this series. I love the characters, the world-building, the fast-paced plots.
Cawti has changed dramatically since we first met her, but so has Vlad. He finally acknowledges that while he may have hated all dragaerans to begin with, most of his close friends are of that race. He's genuinely friendly to the Orca sailing him from Adrilankha to Greenaere (regular beatings by Orca youth during his childhood inspired, or at least deeply contributed to his early hatred of dragaerans). He's come a long way but where will he go next?
While Teckla showed us the beginnings of a rift between Vlad and Cawti; Phoenix shows the deepening of that rift. Their relationship struggles are sparingly told and heartbreakingly real. They love each other but it's not enough, at least in this book. What will she do with South Adrilankha? Can they find their way back to each other?
The world-building in this series continues to be exceptional. Each book reveals or hints at something new. This time we discover that there are different types of stones which block sorcery and psionic communication -- I wonder what Morrolan and Aliera will do with that information. We also learn that there are legends of strange lands beyond the sea, perhaps even beneath it. And while Noish-pa refers to dragaerans as elves, Vlad finds himself referred to as a dwarf by the dragaerans on Greenaere.
We don't learn as much about the House of Phoenix as we have about other Houses in other books -- after all, there is only one living member and she's the Empress of the Empire. We learn more about her though, and how she regards her role in the scheme of things.
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