Although the base story arc is good, there are too much things and too much new sub-story arcs that are left completely open and hollow, ultimately leaving the reader frustrated or wondering about too much stuff. Mareen’s decision is out of character and unexplainable except to feed a story arc that adds little to the current book (almost stopped listening at that point). There are a lot of others things that leaves the impression that everything is too much, it feels overwhelming and hollow inside (the magic creature that not one talks about? The new weapon of Henri which is described a lot but nothing to follow to justify this level of description? A dagger that kills everything it touches without any explanation? Orc religion about the MC but no followup whatsoever? overpowerful MC, etc.). Overall, the reader is left frustrated at the end.
As much as the first book was focused, coherent and enjoyable, this one feels disjointed, rushed and force-fed full of hollow sub-plots (it could have worked if there was some kind of followup on each) to fill the pages.
Perhaps the author will redeem himself in the next book.