I read the first book, Crewel, earlier this year, though to be honest so little of the story was still clear in my mind that I might as well have read it years ago. What really stuck with me from Crewel is that the world building was fabulous and I loved how this supposed fantasy morphed into something completely sci-fi. In fact, I remember more about the world building than about the characters. I vaguely remember thinking that the heroine, Adelice, was a bit of a push over and needed to take a stand for what she believed in, and that she had a tendency to make stupid decisions. Finally, I remembered there being a love triangle between two brothers, neither of whom I was particularly excited about. 
 This second book, Altered, picks up where Crewel left off. There's not much of a recap of the events in Crewel but there were enough memory jogs for me to be able to pick up enough of the pieces to be able to be drawn back into the action with no problems. I probably missed out on some of the more subtle nuances that span the two books, but I didn't suffer for it. In actuality, I prefer it this way as I hate when authors dedicate a good portion of their book to recapping events from (a) previous book(s). 
 I was soon completely absorbed in the book, flicking through the pages like no one's business. I was unable to devour it as I would have liked, but I still finished the book in significantly less time than has been recent average. I rather liked the difference in setting here, Earth itself (though very different to the Earth we know) instead of Arras. I did, however, find that I missed the beautiful descriptions of just what Adelice would work with the threads of reality. While there are some descriptions of weaving in Altered, they didn't blow me away in quite the same way as those in Crewel. 
 In Altered, Adelice and feuding brothers Jost and Eric find themselves on Earth, one being mined of its resources for use in Arras. They need to find safety in a world completely foreign to them, one where light is controlled by a mafia-esque group called the Sunrunners. They manage to fall in with this group, become embroiled in their politics and surprising links to Arras. 
 The big difference between this book and Crewel is that Crewel was fairly slow and took its time setting up a whole society with the focus on its corrupt inner workings. Altered, however, is chock full of events and revelations, many of them game-changing. There's nary a chapter where you're not left on the edge of your seat wondering just what's still in store for the characters. 
 By the end of the book, we've got answers to some questions but many more are left open for further exploration in book 3. It leaves off in such a place that I'm torn between being glad that I read it now and wishing I'd left it until book 3 is already available so I could immediately get the answers to all the "what next?!" questions. 
 I think my biggest frustration with this book was how the love triangle was dealt with. Erik was mostly absent for the first half of the book, so I missed Adelice's interactions with him that would have picked up on the chemistry from the first book (that vague niggle of it that I don't really remember). The first half of Altered focuses entirely on Jost, only swinging to focus on Erik when Jost makes a decision that takes him out of the picture for some time. This resulted in things with Erik happening at such a speed that it didn't really impact me. 
 Moreover, Jost's words and actions cemented my feelings that he's not the sort of male character that works for me. I remember not being so sure about him in the first book, but now I'm sure that in Adelice's position I would not be ready to forgive and forget the accusations he made, nor how he wanted to use her for his own agenda - even if I do understand where he's coming from. I understand him, but that doesn't endear him to me. 
 All in all, I think both of these books have been much more about the setting and the fantastical elements woven into the storyline than about the characters. In that respect, the book was a real hit for me - even if I did miss some of the elements of the society that had been presented in the first book. The characters were still missing that je ne sais quoi that would have really left me invested in them. As it is, I'm more interested in seeing how things will turn out for Earth and Arras, more than I am in seeing whether Adelice will choose Jost or Erik, whether Adelice will be able to save her sister and reunite Jost with his daughter... 
 I will definitely be reading the book 3, just waiting for a release date now!