"A little disappointed in outcome of 3rd novel. 2nd and 3rd not as strong as 1st, but still a good series." ( )

first, Resnick is Mike Resnick's [of Santiago fame] daughter. This story was ok. It had the token warrior, evil magic user, good magic user who prophesied, prophesied hero, hero's family member who would betray him and the woman who nobody can resist. A country has been subjugated for 1000 years. Infighting and feuds keep them weak. A world spanning empire rules them. Suddenly the Hero fights for freedom. Everybody else wants freedom now too! Feuds, fights, hatreds and hundreds of years of superstition are gone in a matter of months. I enjoyed reading this, but after reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen books, it was very underdeveloped and showed the authors lack of understanding on how politics and military strategy work, especially in a sword and shield era. The little blurbs on the back were nothing but hype, and I am reacting to those more than the story in this review. This was a good, generic, forgettable fantasy story. ( )

Well-written high fantasy, but honestly, it just went on too long. So far, everybody has lost someone important. Anybody who loves anyone seems to be doomed. Betrayals are everywhere, and that's something I find profoundly disturbing.The book did end on a note of hope, and I want to know what happens next. I just don't know if I want it enough to slog through (at least) two more volumes. ( )

This would have been a better read if the back had been a little more accurate. It sounded like a standard quest novel but in reality was a complicated political type fantasy novel. The main characters don't really come together to fight the foreign invaders, except for on an intellectual level where they all realise that this is a good time to deal with this issue.

This book is more about a pride in society and trying to overcome some of the traditions that are in the way of being effective in order to defeat a common enemy and putting aside tribal issues to fight for a common good. It could have been very interesting but instead I found it dragged somewhat. I didn't find it thoroughly bad but there were times that if I had something else to read it might have been abandoned.

It would appeal to people who like the more political fantasy rather than the more magic oriented or quest fantasy. While there is magic in the story and it is pretty pervasive in the society, it does change things suddenly. There's a lot of complicated politics and people who change allegiances and are willing to sacrifice others quite quickly.

Overall not bad, would probably appeal to people who enjoy complicated political novels. ( )

I picked this book up at the grocery store in a moment of desperate boredom. I was expecting, well... I don't tend to expect much out of books I get from the grocery store in sheer desperation of something to read.
Her world is wonderfully detailed and thought out. It has a number of classic fantasy elements, and lots of foreshadowing. As I read it I found I enjoyed the foreshadowing, as it seemed intentional, as opposed to being merely predictable due to bad writing. I particularly love the fact that the characters are not black and white, but all shades of gray. They don't automatically know right from wrong. Some people seem to like that tired stereotype that can be found in almost any other fantasy novel, but I personally find it boring. ( )