I love world-building, and this is an excellent world. Five sentient races, each of which is very different from the others, with difficulties in reconciling such and working together.

Harpy's Flight (which, while it read as a stand-alone book, is apparently one of several set in author Megan Lindholm's world) focuses on the relationships between the humans and the harpies. Some humans hate them; some worship them. What happens when these collide? The harpies are well-drawn, though -- and this might be a spoiler -- in the end it looks like they are using their worshippers as dupes.

Ki isn't having any of that, given her experiences. Her choices were ambiguous; she clung to memories even when they were hurting her. The plot was well-crafted to show character growth, particularly Ki's tentative transition between mourning the past and having a future. Other characters also grew and changed. The plot and pacing were excellent, well handled via a series of flips between the current situation and flashbacks.

I am pleased to see there are more in this series. Although there are no cliffhangers and all plot threads were resolved, the world and the writing are fascinating enough that I look forward to reading more.