I was shocked at how good this was. Not sure why, but man it was. And darker that I expected. Okay, after thinking about it, it was probably the synopsis. It makes this out to seem like a run of the mill fantasy--its not.

The audio was just as well done. I highly recommend either version. ( )

I honestly think this was a good book. A better book, anyway, than the 3 star and DNF rating which I ended up applying to it. Problem was, it felt alot like a plot-driving story rather than a character-driven one. And, that's not a sin but it also allows the reader to disengage, eventually, from the book. I was curious about where all the plot threads would end up but I was not invested in the characters to see where they were going.... And, let's be honest, in a year where so many Speculative Fiction heavyweights were publishing new stuff (Kay, Donaldson, King, Atwood, Williams), plus all the cool new stuff from newish authors (Shannon: Priory of the Orange Tree, Kuang: Dragon Republic, Kristoff: Darkdawn) I frankly don't have time to commit to a book I'm only half committed to. Sorry to say. ( )