Rise of Empire

A good second book, though part one dragged slightly. It took me 3 week to finish it, while part two I read within 2 days. I liked how much deeper the story got and how the author managed to pull some quite obscure characters into the main action and make them stand out. It's truly a skill to navigate such a big cast of characters.
There were a few things that I didn't particularly approve of. Like why did Royse and Handrian use their real names on the ship, for example? It didn't make sense.
And the lightning speed pacing of some rather important events. The main battle of part one took all of 2 pages. The final battle of part two was done off page.
And the endless sea jargon in part 2 which made it all but impossible to understand what's going on. Kudos to the author for doing his homework on the matter, but I don't appreciate having to become a sailor myself to understand the narrative.
Other than that, good plot twists, and a fun plot in general, as well as decent character work. Though I think the author lacks the patience and timing that would've made this book a masterpiece.