Book three of the Palleseen Sway series. Many of the main characters of the prior book figure into this one, but they're less of the focus. It takes place in the aftermath of the prior book’s war, but in Usmiat, a costal city kingdom ruled by a blind king, but with some Pal presence in the city. Most of the focus is on the woman who is the highest ranking Pal, and on the king's heir. This one seemed to take longer to get going, but as it went along the momentum kept building. Tchaikovsky does a good job creating rich and diverse cultures as they clash or align. Good.

I felt similarly about it being slow to get going. I thought it had some of the most intense individual scenes in the series though! Especially

Agreed, quite a number of intense scenes, each from a very personal point of view.