You know... I didn't love the opening. Just because the first book got us well attached to a certain suite of characters and then this one focused on one I was pre-programmed to dislike... so I wasn't interested... I didn't want to like him. And I still don't. Sure, I can empathise with Jadair and all but, meh.
And the ending... that last paragraph was also a bit meh.
But the rest... The rest had me thinking "This is the kind of story I'd like to write one day". The characters are multi-dimensional, I enjoyed hanging out with them, they react when circumstances change, and, well... it's been fun watching them grow and seeing what directions they take (I think I basically repeated myself there... I'm full up with a fever, sue me).
On the whole, though: well crafted, well written and enjoyable.
I'll be continuing on with these characters.