I wish I could give half stars, cuz Dark Skye would get 4.5! Literally the ONLY reason I can't give it the full-star treatment is because I SO wanted to see Lanthe talk to those dragons!! I mean why give her the awesomest thing in all the world and then not have a scene where she uses it? GAH! 
 Admittedly, I'm not a fan of series' that go on forever with no end in sight. The 14th book in a series can't be as good as the first few, when the characters were shiny and new. It can't even really be original, can it? I'd been underwhelmed (and occasionally downright horrified) by the last few. Lothaire (dick), McRieve (snore) and The Professional (eye-roll inducing) were not up to my KC expectations, to say the least. Even the Dacian one left a lot to be desired. But this, THIS, brought me back in. 
 I'm glad we were finally off the island and exploring new adventures. The Hie, and the island were themes that connected many of these storylines, and though Dark Skye starts on the island, we quickly move on. Pandemonia was fascinating. I'd love to see more worlds in upcoming (NIX'S BOOK PLEASE!!!!) installations. 
 And look at that. I'm already excited fort the 15th even though I don't care for long series'. 
 Really, you've gotta love a story where a repressed male falls for a vivacious female. Though the "wedding night" bit was kinda...erm...docile? Parochial? Took the sexy right out of the sex??? The chemistry between the main characters was unmistakeable and the banter, especially when Thronos loosened up a bit, was a blast. 
 Also, don't you wish you had wings?