On the one hand, this was really refreshing because the characters have real depth and complex and believable emotions and motivations. They were also properly smart and knew their stuff like you would expect from people that actually lived in this fantasy world their whole life.

But on the other hand, the one aspect that killed this book was the horrifically slow pacing. Nothing but character introduction happens in the first 5 hours of the audiobook. And there are about 6 characters introduced that are of actual importance to the plot. I knew that I could probably expect a pretty good story and well-done characters at least from this author because of her hit series. Without that trust credit, I probably wouldn't have even made it through the first 3 hours.
This book felt closer to 600 pages, not the 334 it actually has and the audiobook is over 13 hours long.

The core plot was rather stereotypical. It's just ancient evil power makes people do evil things.
The by far more interesting part of this story to me was the court intrigue towards the end of the book but I wasn't a fan of how naive and clichéed the resolution ended up being. It felt a bit like the author just had to wrap up the story because it went on for too long and I kind of agree. I just feel like it would've been better to tighten up the opening instead. ( )

Gutes Fantasy-Buch

nicht beliebig, sondern eine eigene interessante Welt, von der ich gerne mehr wüßte ( )

A really engaging story with enjoyable characters of depth. ( )

I always enjoy Patricia Briggs' books. Her characters are always interesting and her story lines keep me well entertained! ( )

I picked up this series because I enjoyed the Mercy Thompson series Patricia Briggs wrote. I was not disappointed. This is set more in old-world fantasy story-telling unlike the modern vampire/werewolf story I read before. I've always enjoyed fantasy stories and this was a nice easy story to listen to (audiobook saved my sanity during work commutes). If you enjoy other stories by Patricia Briggs or fantasy adventure, then I would definitely recommend this book. ( )