Read halfway, which was a struggle. Too many independent groups of characters with slow plot advancement. Got tired of waiting for payoff and gave up. ( )

The Veiled Throne follows the Imperial children as they grow into adulthood. Timu has thrown in his lot with the invading Lyucu in the hopes that they can peacefully coexist, Thera travels to the Lyucu's homeland to incite rebellion and prevent further reinforcements, Phyro contends with his mother the Empress Regent over Dara's response to the invasion, and Fara is just trying to find her role in the world. The overarching theme, however, is cultural conflict--Timu struggles to find common ground between the cultures of the agricultural Dara and the nomadic Lyucu, Thera fails to convince the enslaved Agon to use Dara tactics in their rebellion, and Phyro and the Empress try to decide how suspiciously they should treat refugees of both races from the occupied territories. The second half of the book introduces Kinri, the son of a Lyucu thane who is exiled to Dara and makes a life there but still has loyalties to his homeland. The author does such a good job of presenting many different sides of the conflict to the point where I, as the reader, wasn't sure what I wanted the outcome to be. Kinri's story was particularly moving as he really exemplifies how both cultures could be seen by fresh eyes. I look forward to reading the conclusion of the story in the next book. ( )

I loved the first book and was intrigued by the second. Unfortunately, the third one did not work for me. I found the Master Chef plot to be off topic and rather tedious. This is not to say that the book is not interesting or well written. I am sure many people will thoroughly enjoy reading it. ( )

i really liked the first two books in this series. but this one read like a first draft - lots of imagination in play, but still in need of a whole lot of editing. it had a huge cast of characters, and it was full of digressions, each of which prompted still more digressions. too many meddles make a muddle. as a result, there was no momentum, it felt rather random, and it went nowhere. reading became a chore. sadly, in spite of my previous engagement, i think i'll stop reading this series now. ( )

Everyone contends with just about everyone else in this installment, and there is a lot of cutting away from painful scenes, sometimes to scenes which will be just as painful but increasingly toward the end, to a major romp of a contest between two restaurants. Lots of betrayal and gadgets that work much better than prototypes should. I'll probably forget most everything before the next brick is baked. Or maybe not since it's dropping this June. Speaking Bones ( )