It took me a while to get into this book, but I don't think it was entirely the book's fault, as I was pretty busy when I started reading it. Once I did get into it, I really enjoyed it. It's set in a world reminiscent of Tolkien (helpful giant eagles, anyone?) with a few things that struck me as Star Wars-esque

lightsabers and force chokes

, but the story and magic system are fairly unique. I found the last third or so hard to put down. Kristen Britain also, in my opinion, did a good job of leaving clues for some major reveals without making the book too predictable, at times I picked up on a clue, but wasn't sure right away if I was on the right track.

I also liked that one of the "elves" was the main bad guy, despite them having the positive/mystical healer reputation they often have in fantasy books. It was a more nuanced view than we typically get, in my opinion.

(One comment, though: Why didn't Jendara and Torne read the message? I would have even accepted a fairly weak explanation, like maybe Karigen hid it somewhere, and they never found it.