I just finished it a short time ago and thought it was great. 

Major Loves:
-Godalgonz shined brightly in his short time.  I'm not sure I'll ever be able to spell it without looking it up, though.  His death made me hate Billie that much more.
-Schultz used to bother me.  He's growing on me a lot and I think he really works great.  I'm starting to appreciate him as I see the others looking to him for literal guidance, without actually saying it.
-Cazombi relieving Billie was the coolest moment of the book and had been building for such a looooong time.
-The attempted ambush the Coalition set up on the ridge rocked.
-I still love the mentioning of previous worlds and campaigns- Elneal, Diamonde, Kingdom, etc.  I have truly come to despise self-contained novels in a series!

Minor Loves:
-Godalgonz and Rynchus had a Batman and Robin thing going on!
-For some reason Tinkatat Scouts made me giggle.  It's such a cool name!
-I was glad too that the depth of Charlotte's wrap up came full circle.
-Sergeant M'kwazi thought he was the best tracker, but his whole sequence - which was pretty cool- just goes to show how much out of their depth the coalition forces really were.
-Doyle is moving along nicely as he comes to terms with his growing responsibilities.
-Wooohoo for Quick!
-Corporal Queege taking down Mayor O'Quinn while he was 'liberating' his money!

I might as well chime in on Bass. I too was bummed out when I thought he was dead, but I recall mentioning to David that even though we hate major characters being killed, I have to admit that it gives the other characters a chance to react to something profound.  That reaction brings new depths to those characters and meaning to any sacrifices made along the way.  Writing is all about moving the story forward. No character is too sacred not to be used to accomplish that.  It's darned hard to admit that too!