This one was a let down for me, which really isn't fair at all, because I was comparing it to and expecting it to be as powerful as For the darkness shows the stars. 
 If it was a proper sequel, I would have been less disappointed and more enraged, but other than the element of Reduction and the brief appearance of our old characters it felt like a different book entirely. Where the first installment we had a world where technology was forsaken, here we have a world where it is revered. 
 "If they didn't take you seriously, they would never see you coming." 
 I didn't connect with the characters as much as I did in the first book, I guess I was just waiting to fall in love with them, to be wowed as I was with FDSTS. 
 I know it's not fair and if I had gone into this without having read the first or without having the expectations I had from reading the first one I would have enjoyed it much more. 
 An enjoyable read nonetheless, and Peterfreund is of course, still a genius.