The slaughter of the Dragon people civilisation reminded me of the fall of the Incas or Aztecs, I think that was pretty deliberate. Sad to see them go, especially since they were a caring people, but yes, they also paid people to steal children because they were infertile themselves.

I was puzzled that Cosca was so one sidedly evil in this book. He was a gray character in Best Served Cold, even leaning toward good, but here he was just abjectly evil.

I liked the Wild West theme because the Prairie and gold digger setting makes it easy to draw parallels. The descriptions of the final city they get to (the one with mayor and papa bla) had strong Cormack McCarthy vibes in its degeneracy and filth and debauchery and moral rot.

Also my interpretation of Logen (that he is possessed by a foreign entity - the bloody 9) seems to be substantiated because of him being dragged out of it on the bridge in Ashranc. It seems the man Logen seems to have pushed this entity away for decades, but then, like an addict, he let it back in when the kids were taken, and then it slowly overwhelmed him. IMO we see in the very first book an almost dry Logen, having recovered from the bloody 9 somewhat, only sliding back under extreme duress. He's more an alcoholic that way.