As the first book in a series, this establishes the world that you will be dealing with during the next few books. Or in this book's case, worlds. The concept is unique, as I don't know of another writer that would describe Changelings in quite the way that this author chose. The book has good strong prose, and the characters are not too badly designed. My biggest problem falls with how many characters you need to keep straight in your head, and where between the two worlds one sits. Though the book is well written, I found it easy to misplace and leave sit for a week or two. The ending does offer a trip to the next books and I await the center and conclusion of this series. ( )