My super quick thoughts: This a three star book with a five star ending. 
 This has all the flaws I mentioned in the previous book, the sometimes cheesy melodrama the most obvious, and introduces some problematic elements I don't think I noticed in the first novel. Some bad dialog, strange behavior from the characters, and a few passages that seem to be clunkily written. 
 BUT... Really good stuff here all the same. The ending really brings together some things that were foreshadowed early and was executed very well. The climax flows logically, but NOT obviously from the 600 pages or so that led up to it. 
 In all, this novel, and so far, this series, has been nothing if not enjoyable. I can't really ask for anything more.