Good sequel - Rated 
The second book was better than the first. Less talk, more action. Although some things were annoying. "As Da used to say" every time the story returns to Liath...a boring storyline of a brother and sister who escaped from Gent....
Otherwise a good sequel to King's Dragon. 4 out of 5.
Worthy continuation of the series. - Rated
Prince of Dogs picks up shortly after the first book ends. The Battle of Kassel has seen the defeat of Sabella's rebellion. Alain has been proclaimed heir to Count Lavastine, and now learns the way of rulership. Liath is now a King's Eagle, a trusted messenger, but her heart is torn by the death of Prince Sanglant in the Fall of Gent to the Eika. With King Henry's army badly mauled at Kassel, he has to entrust another to create a force and retake Gent. However, Prince Sanglant yet lives as the captive and plaything of the Eika warlord, Bloodheart, and Bloodheart's fifth son, who has forged an unusual connection with Alain, must return to the Eika homeland to raise a new force, but plots against his father along the way. Finally, rumblings come from the east that after a lengthy period of quiet, the Quman tribes of the marchlands are once again raiding and causing trouble.
Prince of Dogs sees the smaller story that was contained within King's Dragon explode outwards in all directions, with the addition of several new POV characters including the captive Prince Sanglant and Anna, a young girl who escapes the Fall of Gent with her brother to face an uncertain future in a refugee camp, whilst Biscop Antonia, a key villain in the first book, also has a few POV cameos. The political intrigue of the book is ramped up following the events of the first volume, as is the action quotient as the Eika's ravaging of the countryside around Gent is described, along with the campaign to retake the city. There is also a nice convergence of plotlines, as Alain and Liath meet for the first time and Rosvita moves more towards opposing the villainous and increasingly influential Hugh. Mercifully, although there are some more Liath/Hugh scenes, these are not as irritating as in the first volume as events conspire to seperate Liath from Hugh for most of the book. However, the fact that once again she is powerless to help herself and relies on others to protect her makes her a difficult character to admire.
Elliott's writing is stronger and more confident in this second novel, and the worldbuilding deepens (although the fact that half the locations mentioned in the book aren't on the accompanying map is irritating). It's still impossible to see what the overall plotline of the series is meant to be, however. The metaphysical aspects of the story, such as the role of astrology, magic and the Aoi in the narrative, is still very unclear, which makes it all the more irritating when these elements are referred to without explanation. Nevertheless, those explanations do come in time, and these sequences are more satisfying on a re-read.
Prince of Dogs (***½) continues the narrative begun in the first book and expands upon it, introducing new characters and situations whilst thankfully reducing those elements which weakened the opening volume. Incidentally, the US edition has one of the most spectacularly awful covers I've ever seen grace a fantasy novel, but the UK edition is better.
Both more and less - Rated
The second installment in kate elliots doorstop saga is as worthy as the first.
It features much more on liath than it does on alain, which is slightly disappointing but it makes sense as she has more to do in this one, in fact alains role though significant is quite small.
If you liked the first get this.
A developer - Rated
This book deepens our knowledge of the main characters such as Liath and expands on the plot greatly. However, even more unaswered questions are raised which leaves us hoping the next installment will bring us some information about various mysterious events that happen in dreams and suchlike. It is quite hard to grasp the many different storylines of the many characters, and try and piece them all together to guess where the plot is going. Still, I was kept interested in most places- the problem with Elliott's writing is that she launches into huge detail about battle scenes, scenery etc. which makes the story hard to focus on. It may be wise to indulge in a bit of skim reading in the more longwinded places. The thing that stops you putting the book down in frustration are the bits where an event occurs and suddenly a few questions are answered and the plot races down whole new path! For those wonderful places, which are actually not too thinly spread, I really recommend continuing the series with this book, just remember to skim when you're bored!
Kate Elliott has done it again! - Rated 
This is an amazing book by a very talented author, and I could not put it down. The way she describes Laith's battles with herself as well as Hugh draw the reader in to her story. Her description of Sanglant's struggles against the evil Bloodheart make the reader almost incapable of putting this book down. Such a shame that I had to eventually finish it.
Another great read from a fantastic series. If you enjoyed 'King's Dragon' you have to read this book.
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