ELK's Library

I won a free copy of this book in a giveaway.

This was a slow moving book that really didn't take off until the 80% mark, just in time to try and hook readers for the following book in the series. For a novel that contained an assassination and three confrontations with a dragon there wasn't much action or anything of interest to draw the reader in. I also found that this novel seemed to borrow a lot from other works in the genres. Certain elements called to mind both the Pern series and The Derkholm duology by Diana Wynne Jones. There is also a scene at approximately the 80% mark which reminds me a great deal of a scene in the A Song of Fire and Ice series. I don't think any novel can truly be called original, but I prefer any connection to a previous work, especially such popular ones to be less obvious. Furthermore, the writing was quite rough in spots so even the semi-interesting bits were hampered by some oddly worded and structured sentences. I gave this book three stars, while I didn't enjoy it myself I could see the appeal.