This latest book in the Tuyo series leads on naturally from the previous ones.We start off with Ryo wrestling over how he’ll cope with married life (it’s more complicated than that, of course) while Aras has increasing problems of his own. The supporting cast includes many of the characters we’ve met before, and it’s nice to see how they’re getting on.

The focus is on personal/internal challenges: the opposition/villains aren’t developed as characters and mainly serve to showcase how Ryo and Aras deal with them and each other.

As before, there’s a very slice-of-life feel. I do enjoy these books for the leisurely pace and meditative musings, though I could have done without as much repeated internal and external spelling out of thoughts, opinions and so on (accepting that’s how Ryo speaks).

Overall, a gentle-paced fantasy with a focus on interpersonal relationships.