At a hundred pages or so before the ending, I was rather doubting whether it could all be tied up satisfactorily. And okay, some corners were cut where earlier in the novel we would've gotten the full story, but I didn't really mind as what happened was generally fairly satisfactory. The paintings thing was clever, although I'm going to have to repeat my remark from last time about the Austershalin brandy thing - in a premodern world without international media or even a printing press (or, well, I suppose they just invented it, but it's not being widely used yet...), it doesn't make sense to have these very modern world-famous luxury items where you pay for the brand and the reputation more than for the quality of the product itself. But then he subverted it in the conclusion, which I was quite happy about.
I liked the pirate storyline in general (the superstition about women and cats on ships was brilliant), and on the whole I think Lynch did a good job with what I'd consider the key to making these books a success: the balance between seriousness and over-the-top fun. Better than in the previous book, I thought. Ezri and Drakasha were good characters, even if the opponents and villains were a little flat for the most part, or simply didn't get enough time to become really interesting - maybe because there are too many of them. Though on that note, I do love how Stragos is that rarest breed of villain: one who really doesn't care when the hero vents his frustration at being helpless in the face of the evil masterplan by loudly and inventively insulting him.
Looking ahead to the next novel, I have to say I'm a lot more excited about it now than I was, guess I'll buy it shortly after all. I think we can take it as a given that Locke isn't dead, although I am kind of curious how he'll survive. I have been nursing a suspicion for a good while that this poison thing was just a big charade and they were never poisoned in the first place, but under the cirumstances that would be a somewhat lame way of having him survive, after all that drama.
As for Sabetha, I'm a bit bored of the way the subject keeps getting hinted at but never broached. She had better be worth the fuss when she finally shows up and we finally get all this censored backstory!
