I had a long enough break between the last book and this one to reengage fully with the story and I enjoyed it all the way through this book.  It was pretty unrealistic at times, aside from the obvious fantasy elements.  The biggest example of this was the remarkable timing.  There were many times when certain events happened at just the right time, such as two groups of people meeting up just in time to join a battle that was all but lost.  But those were forgivable, as the story as a whole was still enjoyable.  I very much admire Gwynne’s ability to have all these different storylines and characters moving alongside each other and have them come affect each other and come together.  With this book, a lot of the stories converged and the overall story built significantly.  Very exciting and kept me up three hours too late last night so I could finish.
The actual writing is much the same as the first two books.  Still different than I am used to, but it is usually clear.  He does still have a habit of restating things.  Sometimes I understand why he does, it is from a different character’s POV, but it often offers no new information and I’m left thinking “we already know this.”  His use of thoughts still bugs me.  I am not a fan of direct thoughts in most instances anyway, but his use sometimes has no apparent use.  It often feels like the thoughts were added after the fact, restating something word for word.  And there is so much of it some places.  A few pages are half italicized and it feels off and distracts from the story.
Overall, I very much liked the book.  I do have some issues with how it is written, but they do little to detract from my enjoyment.  I still recommend the series and look forward to the next book.