Which surprises me, as I always remember this as being my favourite of Kay's books. I am trying to decide whether it means that the book isn't all that memorable, or that I've forgotten because it's been a long time and I've read so much in between. And I'm getting old.

Anyway.

I'm not very impressed with the writing style. I remember it being better than it is - more beauty in the language, more structure in the plot. And I don't remember at all that there's so much of the "Looking back, she realised that this was when her life changed yadda yadda yadda" stuff (yes, I totally paraphrased that). It bothers me.

However, the scenes with Ammar are well written. The book really comes alive when he's around. Maybe it's just that Kay cannot write women convincingly.

I also remember the Day of the Moat having more emotional impact (even on the second reading) than it does for me now.

All of those negatives aside, it's definitely much better than the usual fare from the big names in fantasy.