The Veiled Throne has - thus far - been my favorite of The Dandelion Dynasty! I know that's unpopular, but it's the truth. Why did this book work so much better for me? I think for one it had the advantage of having 1500 pages of previous worldbuilding and character building to start with. I didn't struggle as much with lots of names and places, etc. I also think TVT didn't try to do quite as much as some of the other books - to its great benefit I think. We got to spend more time with characters, more time with plot points, more time with reflection, and all of these things were just much more satisfying for me. It still was slow, but I felt like that slow time was spent well. I really don't mind Liu's hands-off writing style, but I loved that here he was able to still put more time into making me really invested in everything. I feel like the first two books had so much to introduce us to and their own plots to manage, but TVT was able to take a step back and relax and do what it needed to do without having to juggle so much. On the one hand I don't feel like it should have taken me 2500 pages to feel completely invested, but I am definitely invested now and loving it!