This is the second book in Bear's "Lotus Kingdoms" series,
itself the second series set in her "Eternal Sky" universe.
Disclaimer: I utterly adore the Eternal Sky series.

I can't say that I feel the same way about the Lotus Kingdoms.
The first book - The Stone in the Skull - was fabulous, an epic
return to a world she had brought to life so vividly. Set in a
different location, it took me a while to realise that this was
the same world.

This second book is not fabulous. I know that there's a
widely-held belief that middle books of a trilogy are always
poor, as they're just marking time. I don't usually subscribe
to this position, but there's a definite sense that Bear
is literally phoning this one in for much of the novel's
considerable heft.

Arcane political maneouverings are hard at the best of times.
This book is full of them, and none of it every works properly,
it's all a bit of a (to use the Irish phrase) "Dúirt bean liom
go ndúirt bean léi go ndúirt bean eile…" -- A woman told me
that a woman told her that another woman…

There are hints and flashes of Bear's usual brilliance here
- the Gage's adventures in the walking city, the destruction
wrought by a volcano and a sorceror - but nothing which is
sustained for any time to make it noteworthy. There are even
hints of a deeper tapestry, like something from Sanderson's
"Cosmere" Universe - the talking pen - but, again, this isn't an
area which is explored in any depth or with any purpose.

This is the second Bear novel I've read this year; the other
one was "Ancestral Night" an epic space opera that I found
thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. Maybe Bear spent all the
shits she had to give in that novel, because this one just isn't
at the races.

All of this changes in the last third of the novel, when the
various limp threads suddenly weave together in a satisfying
and, yes, exciting, manner. I just wish that the same care had
been lavished on the rest of the book.