ahahaha. Yes. I think the real problem with aCoK is that it's a transitional book. It's clear that she's setting stuff up in a big way for the next (two?) book(s), but they didn't... quite... pay off in this book. So there's sort of this feeling of "oh, that's it?"

Also, the "explanation" scene where Gen's all "You shot him? HAHAHAHA" didn't really work well for me. I understand what she was trying to do -- the continuing theme of the ruthlessness of kings, plus Gen's a little hysterical at that point -- but there wasn't enough to really sell the angst of ruthlessness, and it doesn't sit well with me that everyone seems to just forget about that guy Sophos killed, and treat it as a joke. So there's that.

But man, while I was rereading various bits while trying to remember what bothered me about this book, I was all "oh heck, this was brilliant!" so, um, yeah, I'm gonna have to go reread it. I suspect it's the kind of book that is better when read knowing that I'll have issues with some bits (rather than being blindsided by the issues).