The story of Orlaith's younger brother, Prince John, after his ship is blown off course and winds up in Indonesia fighting against, and captured by, the evil force of nature.

Again, for me, the book starts slowly with an understandable review of the characters and situation. My problem arises from the amazing time and energy invested in describing the clothing, the food, the individual environments, etc. I just want to get to the action. But I also accept that these details do help flesh out the environment as well as the different cultures. And this book deals with so many new people and cultures and environments that it can make one dizzy trying to keep them all appropriately cataloged along with their individual idiosyncrasies.

I do have to give Stirling credit for introducing the various different fighting styles of the many new characters…starting in the last book with the Japanese warriors, and now including the Australian and Indonesians...and a Maori.

Meanwhile, young Prince John finds himself forced to grow into the family “business” as people turn to him for advice and guidance just because he is a prince and much barakah [In Islam, Barakah or Baraka (Arabic: بركة "blessing") is a blessing power, a kind of continuity of spiritual presence and revelation that begins with God and flows through that and those closest to God]. And then, he also finds his love interest (as most them seemed to have done) in the middle of a battle.

I give this book 4-stars because of the need to skimp a bit on character development due to the plethora of new characters. ( )

Stirling has successfully brought the Change into a next generation and onto another continent. I've enjoyed how this book incorporates several leadership concepts, typically conveyed as best practices the descendants have learned from their royal parents. ( )

I found this difficult to read until the last 1/3-1/5, just not much interesting going on. ( )

I finished this a couple weeks ago, but forgot to add to my collection. Prince John and crew get pushed by a storm created by the japanese empress to above Australia. They're attacked by a huge alligator with a bracelet. The end up beaching on an island that is being fought over by two factions. Will be interesting to see where it goes from here. ( )

Another excellent chapter in this outstanding series John Mackenzie, an erstwhile troubadour, becomes entangled in his princely duties for the Kingdom of Montivale. Unlike his sister, he lacks a magic sword but slides nicely, if not willingly, into his expected role as a war leader. Demonic Koreans, yes even then, ship killing crocodiles and troll-like creatures led by a masked man provide many challenges still to be overcome. Looking forward to the next episode. ( )