Action! Adventure! Drops of romance. Story-telling around the fire. A quest for equality.

Those are just some of the reasons I love this book. It was realistic and easy to read. The world building felt so realistic that I'd believe magic exists in the places in this book. The characters were all wonderful, and introduced at the perfect pace for each to be memorable and properly developed.

The diverse characters are described "as dark as any desert [person] was supposed to be."

There are myths, histories, woven through the story. It felt like listening to my elders giving me the stories of our past. Absolutely loved how this was written. There's a line, "True names had power." Which is a belief of my people, so that really hit home for me.

A fantastic climax and ending. Makes me really crave the next book. I cannot recommend this book enough. Completely fantastic.