I read the Kindle edition rather than the hardback, but haven't figured out how to add another edition to the system.I enjoyed the return to Gillengaria and and the Twelve Houses. One aspect of this book that made it stand out was the intellectual action as opposed to the physical action that was predominant in the earlier books of the series. ( )

This latest book of the Twelve Houses is a bit different from the rest in the series. It takes place after the war so it is more suspenseful than action/adventure. It also moves on to a different character who was not one of the main characters from the other books. It ties in nicely and I found myself surprised at where it went. ( )

This is a novel of the twelve houses and although they appear, it's not focussed on any of the six characters we've come to know through the series. Instead its main character is Wen, a former royal guard who can't forgive herself for living when her king died. With reluctance she accepts a job creating the guard for a noble house and protecting the seramarra, and finds herself drawn to the seramarra's guardian.
I don't remember meeting Wen in the other novels but I liked her and this book. Her gradual change from hating herself to accepting and being able to move forward with her life was well done. It wasn't entirely focussed on Wen, which I think was good - there was enough of the characters from the previous novels and what is happening in the realm as a whole to make this fit in well with the series.