First of all, a big Thank You to Jacob, TOR, and Brandon Sanderson. Now to finish filling my part of the contest....

The book was really good. I find myself eager to read the next one. This is the same feeling I got after finishing The Eye of the World and A Game of Thrones.

The book does start off rather jaggedly. Very little is explained as to why things are happening and there is no real kind of 'infodump' on the reader. The book follows three different characters": general who is trying protect his king, a former squadleader who is made a slave, and a young girl who is to be apprenticed to scholar.

There is very little sense of a Big Bad, Ultimate Evil, or even What-Is-Actually-Going-On. But the character's stories do draw you in and make you want to know more. Sanderson did a decent job of making a slow part in one person's story be balanced by an exciting part in another.

The book was lacking in descriptions in the early third, but it was something that was definitely improved. It made it difficult to grasp and understand some of the structures used in the world, both physically and ethereally. Towards the middle of the book, though, those things do make a kind of sense.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. And I haven't had this feeling of anticipation for the next book in the series in a long time.


You people need to buy this book and read it, so at least I can talk to someone about it..