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According to my notes, this was one of the better books in the series? But I read them all so fast, I really can't differentiate. That makes sense, though �� if you’ve just read Shadow Study, the previous book, you hit an abrupt cliffhanger. That is integrated better into the story along with more. So think of books four and five as essentially connected.

See my review of the first book in the series for an overview review.

A few notes I did make:

p. 38: Annoyance: crossbreeding vs grafting. The author conflates these, assuming that a graft creates a “new type of plant��. Nope nope nope. I'm guessing whatever editor was involved here didn't have much of a science background? In any case, it would have put a big no-go into the developing storyline, except that could have been overcome by having the breeders capable of some “plant magic�� that let them blend the capabilities of plants.

p. 189: Why it’s good:

He hesitated for a second, then said, “I need to tell Ari he was right.��
“It could be worse.��
Valek waited. “It could be Janco who was right.��
“Ah, yes. That would be worse.��

Once you’ve read this far, you’ll understand why this puts a big grin on your face. The book is full of implausibilities, but the characters are emotionally deep and compelling. Okay, the bad guys aren’t deep or compelling, but that is one of the big things that differentiates genre fiction from literary fiction. We aren’t dealing with Booker Prize territory, here.