A good start to the series, maybe a little complicated and confusing to get into. Looking forward to the next book.

A really good start to the series and I cannot wait for the next installment

This was a splendid book! Reminiscent of high fantasy, with a rich environment and characters that leap from the page. Ms. Saunders employed a favorite technique of mine - letting the reader discover the ways, rules, religions, etc, of her world by context. The fantasy is layered with a Celtic touch, and has scenes of pathos and despair to rival any good opera.

I recommend this to any fan of epic, high fantasy.

This book, is quite simply, an absolute gem. Don't get me wrong - it's not the easiest read out there - but it's well worth persevering with the slightly heavy writing style - which sometimes feels like wading through treacle (in a good way). The author does not, as opposed to some writers, waste a single word in this story. Everything is loaded with importance and each and every word must be read to fully appreciate the nuanced style of writing. I did, on occasion, have to backtrack and reread a paragraph or two. This is not a book to read while doing something else - it's a book that demands your full attention, all the time, and one where you might have to take designated breaks just to absorb what you've read and to think about something slightly less dark and self-centred thoughts.

There is a heavy Celtic? influence to the writing - the names of places and people may not roll easily from tongues unused to the elaborate words. Neither is the author the type to throw her entire world building at your feet within the first few paragraphs or sentences - no the world building unravels as deliberately slowly as the writing - but we need to know everything we're told - there are no wasted words even here.

The conflict between the Brotherhood, the Guard and the Daoine - all with old hurts and new ambitions to temper their relationships with each other, provides a vision of a desperate world - a world on the brink of something - we just don't know what. Everyone in this book is scared of something being revealed against their wishes.

The book centers around a number of main characters - Breag, Sionna, Carad, Cu, Tarbhal and Laoighre. None of these characters is simple (apart from maybe Cu but even he has his secrets) and none of them is a simple goodie or baddie, they all have back stories and carry life's judgments like a weight around their neck. This is no simple tale of good vs evil. There are too many lies and half truths from all of them - they all have something they wish to accomplish and seem content to do so at others expense and in the end, the ones who accomplish the most, are those that manage to bend their wants to the reality of events, and you have no idea who that's going to be. Every betrayal is a fresh wound to the reader, and every success heavy with the scent of future failure.

This book got into my head and stayed there. Perhaps a simple tale, exceeding well told, or perhaps a more complex one, I genuinely think that the reader can take away from the story what they want but I doubt that many will be able to skim read this and will find themselves sunk into the Tiarna Beo and wishing for much, much more in the future.

An interesting read. I was very excited for this book based purely on the synopsis. But I found the story overly complicated and difficult to get into.