Really liked revisiting this world. They all did a great job keeping the flow of the story going smoothly. ( )

Due to life, it took me several weeks to finish this book. But like a good cup of hot chocolate, this was a book to be savored. It was twisty and full of political machinations, and I loved it. (Though side note: The plot was not nearly twisty enough, or subtle enough in its twists for me. But maybe that was the point? Since the book mimicked a season of a TV show, foreshadowing could be a little heavyhanded deliberately.)

I had not read the original Riverside books, though they are on my shelf. I will have to rectify that very soon because I am very intrigued by this world Kushner has created. And given how much I liked Tremontaine, I suspect I'll like the original books as well.

The good: It's complex, and gritty, and full of really compelling characters. The characters aren't black and white good and bad. They're as complex as the plot, fully realized, and realistic. They do selfish things in their own interest. They struggle with ethical quandaries and don't always do the right thing - and often, in this book, take a morally ambiguous path. Also, the diversity! I swoon at the diversity.The ended was satisfying, even though it was open ended. There will be more adventures and I look forward to reading them.

The bad: I think I gained about five pounds while reading this book, because I kept craving hot chocolate. And I have the good stuff from local family-owned and run chocolate shop, which means extra calories. My pants are a bit snugger than they were pre-Tremontaine.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Well-written and engrossing, but I always forget how much this universe unsettles me. The world infused with amorality and violence is hard to spend time in, and the characters always seem to be hurtling themselves toward terrible outcomes. ( )

It has been forever since I read Swordspoint and I honestly don’t remember much about it and that is fine since this is a prequel to the books. The book is set up as serial but not every chapter ends on a cliffhanger and the story arc builds and completes nicely in the book. The cast of characters is certainly diverse and isn’t built off the European tropes you see so much in fantasy and that makes for a nice change of pace. Lots of growth for several characters and along with love and second chances for several. Not every story line ends well for everyone and that makes for good storytelling.

A fun read and I’ll pick up the next book when I get a chance.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss.
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I enjoyed this; it was a fun revisiting of one of my favourite settings, that contains so many things that I enjoy. Plus some tasty bonuses, like foreign traders with their own views of the world, and a glance at the political complexities of intellectual development.

Once again, the episodic nature of the initial medium led to some oddities of pacing, both within episodes and across the whole arc, but it worked better for me in this long-term unfolding-of-story style of "show" (rather than the more monster-of-the-week style of Bookburners).

I'm slightly saddened that the only het main character is the villain, or at least as close to a villain as this delightfully complex narrative has. And even then, I don't think I'm so much upset about evil straights (because heaven knows it's a nice change from evil gays) but more that it's so prevalent in fandom of all kinds to hate on the girly straight girl breaking up our beloved gay boys. Which is poisonous and unpleasant, so it's a bit sad to see echoes of that in a canon piece.

But, to be quite honest, I absolutely adore the Duchess Tremontaine, in all her brutality and fragility. She was the shining star of this, for me, and I'm so delighted to have had this chance to get to know her better. ( )