Whoah. Let me get my thoughts together.
This was a fantastic story. D.B. Nielsen's language is beautifully descriptive, with movie-like elements to highlight the duality themes running through the book. The history run-downs can get a bit heavy at times, but they are so fascinating and so well tied into the story that it is a mere niggle.
Saffron is an altogether different character than her twin, Sage, from the first book. While I couldn't identify with her reckless nature as easily as I could with Sage's pragmatism, I was still compelled by her tale and her journey to discover the Scroll.
Saffron's artistic temperament has placed her in a world teetering between the light and the dark and this is reflected in her *almost* 'lust-triangle' with Finn and Gabriel. The author has brilliantly described both male character's, developing them so you can see that one is mostly good, with a bit of bad and the other is mostly bad, with a bit of good. Who doesn't like a bad boy who needs redeeming? Saffron certainly has a weakness there.
The only bit I didn't much like was just how pathetic Sage came across throughout the book - she appeared almost entirely dependant on St John and very squealy / nervous / panicky. In her own book, 'SEED', she proved herself to be much stronger than her sister apparently sees her.
In all though, a great book I've really enjoyed over the last few days. I am now in anticipation of 'SWORD'.