SFF Readalongs led by Kitty G discussion

This is the thread for the Chap 27, 28 & 29 of The Dinosaur Lords. Please make sure that you do not leave any spoilers for later parts of the book in this thread, but please do let us know what you're thinking of it so far and how much you enjoy it!

Some interesting names in this book, what do you think of them?
Do you like the story so far?
Is it original enough?

So I'm about to start chapter 28 so haven't actually read them all yet but thought I'd do a quick update of how I am finding it so far. I have only just (the last two days) started to really dedicate time to getting to know and understand the characters and politics of this world and I am actually liking it a lot more now than I was at first.

Probably my favourite characters are Karyl and Melodia at the moment. I have a feeling that there's a lot more to come with both of them and it's only recently that we've started to really see any of Karyl's past which makes me highly interested in exactly what he thinks he'll get from training up the Gardener's and where he really was all the time everyone thought him dead and gone.
I think his had growing back and the fact that he travelled as a performer is also pretty fascinating, and it seem like Gods and Magic of this world aren't really something he believes in so seeing him question his beliefs over time is cool.
I also like that he's supposedly died twice... goodness only knows how all of that's going to be fully explained away, but I guess in fantasy it's anything goes :)
Melodia interests me because of the fact that she's so frustrated by the position she's currently in. I think seeing her angle to join in with Jaume means that she has a bit of fight and spark in her and although I do think she's a little obsessed with Jaume, I can see why he might be a great distraction from the dull lifestyle she leads when he's away. I wonder if she'll manage to involve herself in the upcoming war and such in a bigger capacity than her current one.

Rob and Jaume are also interesting, but honestly Rob is the character I don't quite 'get' still. I think he's a person of interest for sure, being a sort of Dinosaur Trainer/Hero/Traveller, but equally he doesn't seem to have as fully fleshed a personality to me. Maybe that's just me, and maybe that's odd to say as we see inside his head a lot, but I don't really think he's totally believable for me yet...
Jaume seems very righteous and noble and I like that about him, but equally I didn't like that he kind of deflected Melodia when they were together and offended her. I think if he's not careful he'll only get into more relationship trouble with her.
As for the joust that he did, well that was pretty cool now wasn't it?!

The Dinosaurs are always a point of interest for me whenever they come up but I have decided that this is way more politically-focused than Dinosaur-focused. I kind of wish we did have a bit more detail into how Dinosaur mounts and this whole culture they have came to be, but maybe that is something to discover along the way.

I do seem to have got all the major characters right in my head now too which certainly helps me to think of the book in a better light than before. I don't know if this book is any higher than a 3*s currently for me, or maybe even a 2*s, but it could easily go up depending on how the world and plotlines shape up in the end.
I wonder if the war and such will actually get going in this book and the Witch lady who wants them to start the war, I wonder how she factors in too. It's interesting enough that I want to know where it's going so I'll keep reading, but I want it to get a bit more detailed on the plot and less so on the politics for a bit to really allow me to invest myself a bit more on the characters etc.

How are you all liking it?