Review Detail

I've waited a year to read this book, a whole year spent counting down the days until this book came out. What a waste of my life, but when I read this book, I knew it was well worth its wait.

I've always loved the worlds that Maria V. Snyder creates, they are magical and the descriptions themselves are even more so. I sometimes dream of living in Synder's worlds, whether it's in Ixia or the Fifteen Realms, they are always amazing. I love how she spends time creating different traditions, appearances and people from each of the Fifteen Realms, which makes this world even more real.

I love the introduction of Kerrick's point of view. Without it, we would of never meet the Northern Tribes, which have tonnes of great new characters, and I believe that the Tribes would help to fight Tohon's forces. Kerrick's view also brought excitement to the story when nothing was happening with Avry's side of the story.

I love Avry, I really do. She's intelligent, funny and witty, but sometimes she makes poor decisions, and doesn't listen to others, and she always thinks her way is the right way. I hate how she ignores very good advice, and only heeds her own. She can't look beyond herself sometimes. She didn't even process Ursan's warning until right at the very end, and I thought it was a really obvious clue. I think she needs to slow down, listen to other people, and think more clearly. Otherwise she is an awesome protagonist.

I think the mystery of the Peace and Death Lilies was really clever, and it was quite hard to work out was happening. I think that Avry got things a little bit too quickly in this book, but it still had her guessing, and clueless sometimes. I hope the whole mystery hasn't been solved, because I love it to much.

Once again, Maria V. Snyder has come out with another great book that I have fallen in love with. I hope she writes real fast, because already I can hardly wait for the next one.