Raven Stratagem

I think I getting more used to the bananas world made this second volume a lot easier to handle than the first. I didn't spend the whole time just desperately trying to figure out what all these high concept science magic stuff was, and could enjoy the characters more. If you're on the fence about continuing this series, I would say go for it; it gets easier. The new characters are interesting, Jedao is still great, and without spoiling anything, I wasn't disappointed in the Cheris storyline either.

I enjoyed this second book much more than the first book. I think that it's because Raven Stratagem is more character-focused, and thus the story is a little more natural to follow. The world building is great. For whatever reason, I had less trouble visualizing the events this time around, perhaps because I was being a more careful reader. Anyhow, I am looking forward to the third and final book in the series.

Classic second book, what's good about it are things that were already good about the first. As a result, took me longer to finish, or at least felt like it dragged on.