This was pretty grim. (Major spoilers behind the cut.)Of the new named characters we meet in this book, I think only three, or maybe four, depending on how you read the ending, survive.
And the ones who die all go pretty horribly. Yes, the ending is hopeful, but there's a lot of misery to wade through to get there, only somewhat alleviated by the fact that Starhawk and Sun Wolf at least get to hang out together for most of the book.

It's got some interesting ideas about gender and violence and war - but it's also got lots of weird grossness about bodies, and especially about fat. There's a major thread throughout, enough that I would say it rises to the level of being a theme, that one character in particular's dissipation and weakness shows up in their body size.

I'm not mad that I read it, overall, but I'm not terribly interested in picking up the next book in the series, or chasing down other books by Hambly. ( )

Second volume is not as interesting as the first volume, because the milieu is now known and somewhat limited, the characters are a bit stale, and the adventures are repetitious. ( )

That was fun. It took a while to get used to fantasy world-building. So often the first chapter of a fantasy novel is like learning several weeks of new vocab all at once: blah blah nation this, tribe that, those mountains, this temple, gods and monsters. There's no time to get a sense of what it looks like and what it feels like because half the words are another language.

Still and all, a jolly fun read. Sun Wolf and Starhawk: like Xena and Gabrielle in a way.

The lesson you might take from this book is don't get between an ambitious man and power, for he will use anything and anyone with cynical unconcern for other people.

( )

Even though Sun Wolf is still a mercenary captain, he's now more of a wizard than anything, though he doesn't understand his talent, and doesn't know how to develop it. We also get more of his companion Starhawk in this book, making it more like a typical Barbara Hambly book, with the focus solely on one couple.
Even if the character types are typical, the details, plot and action make this the usual high quality fantasy you would expect from Hambly. ( )

Sun Wolf and Starhawk continue their journey. They are drawn to Wenshar because Sun Wolf needed a teacher. He meets Kaletha, a self-proclaimed witch but has never gone through the great Trial. In Wenshar, witches and mageborn are not so welcome. Sun Wolf is cast out but then his majesty of Wenshar discovers that his own daughter is mageborn. Murder surround the castle and all eyes are on Sun Wolf or Kaletha the witch. It takes Starhawk to tell them evil can be devised by people who are not mageborn and that dabbling with demons can devour your very soul.
In the end, The Wolf and the Hawk are yet banished from another kingdom and must still search for a teacher for Sun Wolf.
Starhawk appears to be the one saving everybody in this book. She finds out who the real killer is, the real one who wheilds the demons and the reason for it. In fact, she breaks in prison to save him. She's no damsel in distress. She may not be a beauty but she sure is brains and brawns. ( )