TG went out on a limb with this book tearing away from typical SOT
action in a departure that focused on two good and evil character
studies. I probably expect that this installment will work to setup
further plot developments in the world and you can see that
foreshadowing.
The first half of the book can be tough and a bore if you are a
regular reader to the series and jonesing for your RR fix. But you
have to learn to let it go and read the material for what it is.
However, the betrayal was fairly predictable in my humble opinion
but I think he dropped too many clues along the way that I picked
up on.
The last quarter of the book returned to his old pace though and
once Richard showed up it was old hat page turning and I burned
through it really fast at the end. At times the book was a bit
preachey as TG injects his philosophies on world politics...and
well really sometimes for paragraphs at a time.
I would recommend it was enjoyable.