This book was incredible. While I found the first book a bit slow, in retrospect it was exactly what it needed to be in order to make this book what it is. You needed the background, the development of Valen's character, and the slow building of the politics and mythology in order for this book to work. Berg is a genius at creating characters. Valen really comes to life, and I love him for his flaws as much as for his strengths, for his mistakes as much as for his successes. He's such a real character that it's so easy to relate to him, so easy to sympathize with, and it makes the books so much more personal and poignant because of it. The writing is beautiful, and her descriptions are enough to make you feel Valen's claustophobia, or actually feel his wonder at seeing the Danae in your own heart. Just a beautiful, beautiful book. Wow. Bravo. ( )

I’m sure I read this when we first bought it (published 10 years ago) but I didn’t remember any details at all. I remembered bits of book 1, but not this one. It’s odd, because I enjoyed it both times - you’d think something would stick in my memory! Oh well, I got to enjoy it for the first time all over again. ( )

I found both of these books to drag at the beginning, to the point that if they hadn't been highly recommended by a friend I would have bailed on them. This one was a bit better than the first, with more action. But in both books, if you can slog through the beginning set up part, the second half is very satisfying. I'd say this was about 3.5 stars. ( )

This book almost makes me want to go back and lower every star rating I’ve given in the past 2.5 years by one star, to allow this book to have its own special place on the scale. It’s not that I don’t think the other books I’ve rated deserved the ratings I gave them; it’s just that this book deserves a six-star rating. :)

This was the sequel and conclusion to Flesh and Spirit. The first book was great, but this book was even better. At around the 10 or 11% mark, something was revealed that completely surprised me. This caused my cat great alarm, because I actually squealed very loudly and he’s not used to hearing such strange noises from his human. At that point I wanted to start all over from the beginning of book one and read everything again. There were other revelations throughout the book, but they weren’t as surprising. One revelation in particular was something I’d suspected from early in the first book and was pleased to see confirmed. I loved it all.

I wish there were more books, but the ending was great. It didn’t leave me frustrated by leaving things up in the air or unanswered, but neither did it spell everything out so that the ending seemed too pat or convenient. I was left with a clear picture of what lay in the future for the various characters and what choices they were likely to make, but there was still enough leeway left that I could allow my own interpretation of the characters to color my vision for the ending. A new book would inevitably mean the author would have to invent more ways to torture the poor characters just when things are looking up, so I guess I’d rather leave them in peace. :)

I did learn, however, that there’s another duology set in the same world but with different characters, published more recently. (It’s The Sanctuary Duet, starting with Dust and Light.) So I plan to read that in the very near future, while the world-building is fresh in my head. I’m going to take a short break first though, and read the next Discworld book on my list. I think, after feverishly reading this book, I need to read something that won’t be quite as all-consuming so I can allow reality to reassert itself for a while. I also became so attached to the characters in this series that I’m not quite ready to let the author suck me into an attachment to a new set of characters yet, if that makes any sense. ( )

"I was no grand thinker. No mighty warrior. No martyr or hero or scholar." ( )