Daniel Abraham continues to deliver an engaging story as war rages on for Antea. As readers of the series will have guessed by the title, Clara comes to the forefront in this book and house Callium becomes the focal point. Clara has lost her husband to Lord Regent Geder's wrath, one of her sons to Geder's banishment, and a second son to the spider priesthood. The bottom line is that she has had enough and decides to take action to prevent Geder from ruining what little she has left. Underestimate Clara at your own peril.
Of course, Lord Regent Geder Palliako remains a brutal yet naïve dictator. His spurned love for Cithrin now fuels his paranoia and the rest of world suffers the consequences. Antea continues to expand and conquer neighboring nations but has spread itself so thin as to become vulnerable to the inevitable retaliation. The spider priests finally meet resistance of their own as another version of the "truth" appears in the form of the dragon Inys. Inys reveals the details of the ancient Dragon War and the origin of the races of humanity. His knowledge exposes the lies of the spider priests for what they are and he reveals tactics of how to best fight them. Marcus, Yardem, and Kit are all alongside Inys and attempt to help the dragon orient to the realities of the new world.
And a new world it is as Cithrin continues to reshape the bank that raised her by changing the rules of the financial games they play. She concludes that for the bank to survive she must fund the resistance to prevent Geder and the priests from achieving their goals so she positions herself to do just that. Wargold becomes the new currency of choice and Cithrin is the key to the resistance being successful. Since this is the 4th book in a 5 book series it goes without saying that little is wrapped up here. The story gets flushed out, the background behind the motives of the spider priests is exposed, and everything is set up for a final showdown in book 5, The Spider's War. I can't wait.
Pete Bradbury once again delivers an excellent narration on the audiobook version of this one.