I agreed with just about everything here, especially the note on titles and how it's been getting more noticeable with each successive book that there is something going on there. (I'm still gleefully hung up on the 'Attolias'.) I like how there's a tension that's never outright acknowledged between the masculine and feminine forms of titles. I like how it's implied that the head of state is synonymous with the state because the state changes its name depending on the ruler's gender, and with the narrative, because we learn 'Eddis' and 'Attolia' before 'Helen' and 'Irene'. Heck, we don't even find out that Gen refers to Eddis as 'Helen' in private until this latest book. And I very much like that 'Eddis' upset a lot of things and continues to do so with Gen's help.

I'm also with you on the not liking this one as much as the others. I still loved it, but it felt very much like a transitional novel to me.