Robin, you're mother, I love you. But these books are starting to feel like we're just running in place for 300+ pages. If the character work and prose weren't so spectacular I think I'd be much more irritated than I am. Fitz is such a compelling character, and I love how he's the main character, but not the central character. Things happen to him, but he's never making the plot happen on his own. It's an interesting way to write this kind of story. I won't be reading the next one any time soon, (these are just so slow and take way too long to get through) but if I had one hope for the sequel it's that Fitz grows as a character and begins to be the catalyst that moves this plot forward. We shall see!