Severn is the one she should marry, definitely, one day, what a keeper! All that fresh food, mmm — how thoughtful…. But he doesn’t see her as an equal yet; too protective, imo.

But before she settles down with Severn, she ought to party with Nightshade first! :) On the serious side, Nightshade pushes her; expects more from her. She can do some serious growth in power with him & the Dragons.

When she’s with Severn, I prefer him. They have so much history and understanding between them. But, I love her interactions with Nightshade, and sometimes peek ahead to see when she’ll get a scene with him. There’s so much subtext and sexual tension going on between them, it makes for such fun reading!

Go Team Nightshade! I agree that right now Kaylin’s power is more intriguing to him then herself…but in my head that part can change. I see Severn as more a big brother role to Kaylin.

Well, he can seduce me any time :) Sorry! I’m completely on Team Nightshade….plus I think Kaylin herself intrigues him, although I think we need more interactions between the two of them….

Being a fantasy and romance reader I really enjoyed the setting in the second book, and any of the others, truthfully.

And I want an extra book on the situation with Nightshade and Severn – I haven't figured out yet if Nightshade even loves her for herself…

Ew, ick!

You guys! Nightshade doesn’t love her! He covets what she has and wants it for himself. And he’s willing to be patient to seduce it from her.

It's probably the most court intrigue-filled of the books in the Cast series thus far. To be expected since it's the Barrani book but even so, I can see how people unfamiliar with the fantasy genre would have a difficult time maneuvering the different plotlines.

For me, I don’t think it was the politics as much as the symbolism in the Barrani’s … uh, magical place (can’t remember what it was called). I just kept thinking that the symbolism was going over my head because I wasn’t familiar with the Fantasy “built-in assumptions”.

@votermom: Not anymore than usual. Due to events in the novel, however, she has to be far more punctual than she has been in the past.

@Estara: I think with Nightshade, his love will always go for Kaylin’s power first, then Kaylin herself second. I suppose it’s arguable whether or not he even loves her in the first place but I’d say that Kaylin and her power are so tangled together that in his mind, they’ve become the same thing.

If I remember correctly (I read it when it came out in summer) the time this book actually takes is only about a week in Kaylin’s life, so I’m not surprised she doesn’t make huge steps forward in interpersonal relations or tact, but I am impressed that she has learned SOME sort of tact and has put Severn into a sort of shadow friend position that she can deal with (having accepted if not forgiven what he had to do to make her survive to her age).

I think there are so many more stories to be told, she could write this for ages and not make me tired of it. I want info on the Gryphon Lord, I wand to know what happened to Kaylin in the six months after she left the fief and before she came to the guards.. and of course, I want a dragon book, too.

And I want an extra book on the situation with Nightshade and Severn – I haven’t figured out yet if Nightshade even loves her for herself…

Addendum: Oh and what about the fact that she now has her own Barranyi truename when she never had before… and what about the tattoos, etc..

MSW has really been able to develop a complex, interesting world, and she really captures the tensions and joys of negotiating between the diverse people in Elantra. I don’t think she gets all the recognition she ought, so thanks for covering this great series.

Peace.

Excellent review!