I normally love a story that has a lord, a female warrior/ally, and an underdog in it. This one, not so much. It actually was missing a whole lot. It fell flat quite a few times and needed that extra twist or something. It seemed too linear, almost predictable at times.

I am still a little back and forth on this book. I read it twice and then even went back over some parts. No, it's not at all confusing, but I was having this conversation with myself about whether or not it works. The first chapter is a bunch of fighting/struggling/worrying. And that's all that chapter has to offer, it's almost draining and tiring to read. However, when I got to the second chapter, it was filled with riding horses, dialogue and taking up camp with "Gypsies"--which I will address later. Normally, this sudden change would annoy me, but by the time I finished chapter one with all of that fighting, I think it was a great idea to move to no fighting. It makes you feel like you are there and just had a fight or struggle and then could breathe (literally in this case).

I was not impressed with the characters. I tried to visualize them and imagine how they would look and act, and about the only one I could really imagine was Maegwin. There really wasn't even enough information included to picture her, but I could at least see her mannerisms. I kept waiting for that one defining moment for each character where I could, in the back of my head, say, "Hey, that's who s/he is" and not guesswork at it. Such a moment came for Maegwin at the very beginning when she is with Rovann. I won't say much on what is going on because it might spoil that chapter and character reveal. However, before that, I could only see a dirty woman with green eyes. Afterward, I knew more about her character, but not her description.

I give this advice to everyone who includes a specific group, culture, or ethnicity in their writing: If you are going to do that, please, PLEASE make sure you have researched the culture or ethnicity or group BEFORE deciding to present a character or characters of that particular culture. Romani people are generally referred to as "Gypsies" by people who lack the knowledge of their culture. It really kills an author's credibility to misuse such terms and misrepresent an entire culture. For more information, just use Google to do a search on Romani people. While a lot of the information found on the internet is not always entirely accurate, I believe Baxter can find more information on this culture and learn. ( )

I read this book without reading the first in the series. It was easy to find my place in the story once it started going, though. I feel like an editor would do leaps and bounds for this book. The overall story is there, just waiting to be found. Though, I don't think I'd be interested enough to pick up the rest of this series.

**I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the author and/or publisher. ( )

This review was written for LibraryThing Members giveaway.

The series is ongoing, with an undisclosed number of books ahead. This feels like the middle part of a trilogy, taken over by the protagonists' travels from point A to B interspersed with a number of more or less friendly sights and encounters. Those were enjoyable though it was a bit disappointing that in a secondary world, the most salient human cultures we get to meet are transplanted gypsies and plains American Indians.

Less satisfying are the somewhat transparent efforts, including an emerging romance, to make the female protagonist take a few levels in badass and relevance to the plot, presumably so she isn't totally eclipsed by the titular King's Mage she travels with.

The final villain is the typical cackling, world-destroying, I'm-evil-just-because, type that many recent fantasy tales have taken care to avoid with some reason, and I stopped reading after a few of his lines.

So, overall many elements felt rather uninspired or even irritating. ( )

Honestly I would give this three and a half stars. It's better than just three but I'd say it's just shy of four for how I rate books. The writing is good, not great yet not in dire need of an editor. At times it's a bit rough and could use some polishing for better flow. The plot is interesting and well constructed. The characters are fairly well fleshed out; enough for this book but could use a bit further development to make them easier to connect with. Overall it's interesting enough to keep the readers interest and provides an easy fun read. Id recommend this for readers who enjoy fantasy and are looking for something to read in their spare time. A free copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest unbiased review. Read more reviews, author interviews and enter giveaways on my blog. ( )