Ok, so I got 67% into this book and it just isn't working for me. Janny Wurts is a very good writer, I am not as convinced with Raymond Feist, but the pace dragged, and my interest was not held. The plot centers around Mara, a girl who belongs to a clan called the Acoma who suddenly finds herself its leader when her family is murdered by her enemies. Mara is a great character, in theory. She is basically a political savant. She makes plans and everybody is a piece on the chessboard. Her ultimate goal is to secure the clan of Acoma so that it can never be threatened again. The reason why I say she is a great character in theory is because as a "strong female lead" she is a bit too perfect. Her plots land her deeper into shit, but she always manages to come out alright in the end. I think the problem is lack of action. The action scenes are very compelling, but most of the book is Mara thinking about the implications of making a miniscule move on a larger political chessboard against ambiguous enemies you won't meet past the 50% mark. There is nothing Mara cares about more than the Acoma, she doesn't really have friends. She has servants, but there is no character to kind of bounce off of Mara's ridiculous exceptionalism. Between the slow pacing and political machinations that bored me to death, the setting was a little bit too close to feudal era Japan for my taste. It felt like boring fanfiction for a better anime about the Edo period. Maybe you'll like this if you like Game of Thrones. It certainly has Game of Thrones vibe, but Game of Thrones has better pacing. ( )

Shogun meets The Goblin Emperor meets young adult Feist. Not good, but enjoyable. ( )

This is quite a good book, with very good female representation. The main character is not flawless, but she is brave, smart, competent and willing to learn. She is not overshadowed by any of the men and her allies do not condescend to her.

One thing I thought was a pity was that there is an alien insect-like race that is made much off in the beginning, but that hardly shows up afterwards. I hope the reason for introducing it is so that they can make a larger appearance in one of the following books. And one slight annoyance: sometimes this read like a conjunction of short stories to me, each with a problem and a solution. I think the flow would have been better if it would have been mixed more.
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Years ago only read the first of the three books in this trilogy. Remembered almost nothing of it. So it was like reading a new book. ( )

Mara is een geweldig karakter dat al na één hoofdstuk in je hart zit en haar avonturen om in leven te blijven en de Acoma te laten overleven slepen mij volledig mee. Spanning, vreugde, verdriet, alles zit in dit boek. De politiek die in dit boek een grote rol speelt is een zeer bloederige en absoluut niet saai maar juist heel erg persoonlijk en intrigerend. De karakters, en zeker die dicht bij Mara staan zijn stuk voor stuk geweldig goed beschreven en mij zeer lief geworden. Keyoke, Papewayo, Nacoya en Arakasi zijn stuk voor stuk mijn helden, waarbij natuurlijk de grootste heldin Mara is. Heerlijk om een boek te lezen waarin een vrouw haar mannetje staat puur en alleen vanwege haar vernuft en mensenkennis. ( )