I liked this one much better than the first. I found the planet and setting to be a much more interesting and appealing place than Trellwan, and the minor characters were more dynamic and developed. Grayson benefited from starting as a fairly admirable character, whereas in the prior book he hadn't learned a lot of his life lessons yet.

I found the battle scenes and military maneuvers compelling and interesting, and the mix of action and quieter developing scenes was well done.

Kagumo and the rest of the antagonists were believable and fleshed out, worthy characters in their own right.