Decent ending this time. Notker is basically indistinguishable from Orhan. I saw a description of the previous book, and at this point I have to agree with it: "Competency porn" The main character is the man who always has a plan. Something I wish was shown more is how horrible war actually is. There's a lot of "... and we lost 80 men to sulfur gas" or "We sent the navy to raid some towns (and oops they did some raping and pillaging)". It's very whitewashed. I wanted Notker(the MC) to feel the impacts of his decisions. This is probably a 'me' problem though. The book is going more for levity, but I just can't help imagining the horrendous acts that are done. Speculation: I think Parker didn't have this sequel planned, and so needed someone to fill Orhan's boots. It was a messy path to having Notker take full control.