October's Baby is a big leap in quality and clarity over its predecessor. Unpredictable plot twists, deeply flawed characters, and wild circumstances that come out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. The inhabitants of Dread Empire truly do seem to be trapped in a world much bigger than they are, subject to the whims of vast plots they can't even grasp the fullness of, much less thwart or combat. The battle scenes are concise but full of juicy detail, and once again the story sweeps through an epic multi-year plot that would take some authors an entire series to cover. One of Cook's big strengths is the ability to go from tiny character-driven scenes to sweeping narrative without jarring the reader.

If I had to level one complaint, it would be that Cook has no compunctions about heaping proper names of places and people on the reader like a dump truck backing up to a construction site.

The first Dread Empire trilogy's middle child adds too many dry military maneuverings to the mix for my taste, but there's still a lot of good stuff in the stew.

Continuing my re-read of the Dread Empire in preparation for "Path." Cook grows visibly stronger with each novel. "October's Baby" takes the characters of the first book and pushes them to the limit. His depiction of the political turmoil in Kavelin is utterly believable (having just read a book on the history of Italy, almost anything is believable by comparison to reality). The magic feels magical while remaining strangely gritty, as the magic using characters have a pragmatic and direct side that's rarely seen in fantasy fiction. Finally, the Battle of Savernake Gap is a thing of awesome beauty, beggaring any other fantasy battle I've read in its clarity, complexity, and sheer bloody-handedness.