As with volume one, on re-reading found the angst a bit wearing. ( )

This book is a sequel to The Silent Tower, starting shortly after the first book left off, and eventually resolving the cliffhanger from that book. I enjoyed it, but I was never engrossed by it, and there were times when I felt restless, particularly around the middle.

An additional character took part in this story who seemed pretty interesting, but she didn’t get a lot of page time. The recurring characters were about as likeable as before, which is to say that I liked them but was only moderately invested in them. There were some plot elements that were a bit of a stretch for me, and I never really bought into the main villain’s motivation, but the general story did hold my interest most of the time and I enjoyed the ending pretty well.

There are two more books in this series, but I’ve decided to stop here. ( )

he second part in a trilogy. I don’t know why it’s only the second part—everything seemed wrapped up at the end to me. The most enjoyable part of these books is the characters, who are not only believable but *likeable*. It's a rare book when I can read the climactic battle with the Big Bad Evil and not scoff, but this is a good example of what to do *right*. ( )

This book completes the story begun in The Silent Tower. I found the conclusion satisfying. I’m not quite sure all the threads connected, but I enjoy Joanna and Antryg too much to quibble. Characters with depth are, I think, Hambly’s greatest strength. She writes characters to really care about. There is also highly imaginative world-building here, as well as plenty of tension and a wealth of wonderfully descriptive language (over-stuffed sentences notwithstanding).

The computer-magic connection is original, at least in my experience. Being an older work, these are computers as they were in the 1980’s, which some younger readers might find annoyingly old-fashioned. They’re the computers I grew up with, however, so I tend to enjoy the nostalgia instead. I enjoyed the setting and the characters enough to go looking for additional sequels. From what I can see, Dog Wizard is the only other full-length novel about Joanna and Antryg, although there are some shorter works as well. ( )

I really enjoyed these books, even with the somewhat similar crossover world theme, and the general Hambly theme of wizards. Even so, the characters are as engaging as always. ( )