There are some things to like about this book. Lord Shea Ashcroft is a complex character, a fully realized person with significant weaknesses trying to make his way through a very complex set of circumstances. And his superhuman race, the Drakiri, are worthy of unpacking in future work. They are a powerful race who do not understand themselves very well, which is really cool for storytelling. The giant tower is cool. The adversary country on the border has possibilities. But overall it's a bit of a weak 3 stars for me. Maybe if he would have given it more space it would work better, but only with some care.
I got lost trying to follow the action in several places. I was most of the way through the book before I figured out that the protagonist's full name was Shea Ashcroft. It seemed like characters who used one or the other name were talking to different people. And we had two characters named Lena who were involved with Drakiri technology, which is kind of a no-no. If you do it, you have to do something with it. I think the ending was a bit limp as well. But I can recommend it for the world-building--there's a lot one could do here. I hope he comes back and gives this universe another try, it would be worth it.
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