I've been reading two chapters on Monday in order to give myself a bigger hit of Alexandra but that makes the end seem to come sooner. Of course, I couldn't have expected three major battle scenes--two should be enough for one book.

I have to comment on the "spoiled Alexandra" meme I've seen in various reviews--of course, we're seeing it from her viewpoint but I don't see her acting unreasonably, given what she's been through and the responses she gets from the adults around her. I sometimes feel like your writing super!Alexandra a little bit but we are talking about a world where magic exists after all, and her father clearly is pretty super, so why shouldn't she be.

What is sometimes a little out of character or age appropriate-ness for me is her sexual awareness. After all, she apparently just discovered boys in this book. Perhaps it's a mistaken impression that boys are the ones who fret about dying a virgin but it seems like Alexandra has enough to be getting on with without delving too deeply into sex right now (and I guess ultimately, she hasn't really, even if she wants to seem ready for more).

All in all, an excellent story (again) and I can hardly wait for the next book. Except, of course, that that puts us almost to the last book, which is the end, which will be really sad.