I enjoyed this more than Son of Shadows, but it still barely holds a candle to Daughter of the Forest. I enjoyed a lot about this book, but the pacing towards the second half was rough for me which made the climax dull, and generally I think Marillier’s magic works best when used sparingly. The first book had magic as a wholly inexplicable and wild thing, with storybook-like pacts and bargains that must be made to make or break it. Here it’s so clear, regular and codified that I was able to identify the spells with names from the D&D spellbook. That really lowered the impact for me.