Nicholas A. Rose

A highly intriguing novella that snatched my interest enough to compel me to purchase the series by this author set within the same world. It is not a blood-pounding adventure, per say, but I was quickly invested in the character nonetheless and anxious to see his training progress. There is a slight lack of world-building; some assumptions seem to be made concerning the reader's knowledge, and certain points made much more sense after reading Markan Throne and Markan empire. These holes are not too significant, however, and certainly do not prevent one from becoming invested in the story. Sallis Ti Ath is utterly fascinating, and upon completion I was disappointed to no longer be able to follow his journey (I later discovered the author's other books, including a direct sequel to this one); the ending does leave many questions hanging, but it feels an appropriate place to stop, since this is a novella. The first step of the journey concludes, and the rest is left to be told elsewhere. In all, it is a great, quick read that I would gladly recommend to others.… (mehr)

Another wonderful book! The intrigue swept me away and I could hardly put it down. The only negative I have to say about it would be that it was at times hard to follow, with multiple storylines occurring simultaneously, requiring the author to frequently switch from one setting to the next. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of, which I managed with limited success. I did "read" a lot of this book by using TTS on my kindle, so that may contribute partially to the confusion, but I think even having visually read it I would still have needed to flip back and forth to keep track of some of the characters and events. Nonetheless, I loved this book and anxiously await its sequel. It's a compelling read detailing the development of an empire re-emerging from years of leaderless wandering. Battles, politics, and spying are all essential aspects of the tale and leave this reader begging for more.… (mehr)