The Rogue - Trudi Canavan

I have come to the conclusion that the second book in a trilogy is the most difficult one to review.  For the first book you're starting from scratch, and so can mention characters without ruining any precarious moments.  For the last book you know everything that has happened and so have less risk of making a fool of yourself with ideas and judgements.  The second book just seems the worst of both worlds.  Of course, that's just for reviewing and not for reading.

The Rogue is the second book in the Traitor Spy trilogy and continues all the storylines a few months from where they left off, as well as adding in a new strand.  I must admit, to start with I wasn't that keen on the new plotline, as it took away from those I was already invested in.  But, as with all enjoyable books, this one sucked me in as well.  It must be a good sign that each time I experienced the 'argh they swapped locations' I was quickly excited to read more about the replacement thread.

Much of the book is character-based, with the writing perspective allowing you to develop a strong attachment to the main 'cast'.  As someone who loves character development, I find this a good thing.  Occasionally it seems that the touchy-feely stuff gets more importance than the 'main' plot, but the carefully separate, and yet still linked, strands move at a comfortable pace, with the usual acceleration to the finish.

Speaking of touchy-feely, it doesn't seem unfair to say that the storylines all have a strong lusting element, and that at times this does rather take over.  Although if there were bonus points available for covering different scenarios then this should definitely score highly.  There are straight, gay and lesbian tendencies.  There is old love, first love, forbidden love, unrequited love and lust.  Not the first book I've read this year that could fit the 'sex-obsessed' description, but the book doesn't suffer for it.

As a general rule, when reading a trilogy I try to read other books in between.  This helps to ensure I read a variety of books, and often helps me to fully process what I've read before continuing.  As another general rule, I'm much better at sticking to this after the first book in a trilogy than after the second.  Because there's only so much investment I can put into a world before I get impatient.  So I'd better stop writing, as there's a book upstairs calling my name.