Debbie's Spurts

This reader's personal opinion, ©2015, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by Google Play, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers* 

Utterly fascinating. Can I stop there? I still have a book hangover several days later and it's hard to put into words just how amazing a read this one was.

I have been into this world and these characters from the start; obviously from my rare ★★★★★ rating that hasn't changed. But, this book in particular has been a standout in the Paladin's Legacy series read so far. Incredibly well-done.  Paladin Paksenarrion ("Paks") only mentioned but makes no appearance.

The worldbuilding has stayed true to form and all logically hanging together based on everything that came before--yet still had surprises in store. The non-human races have become even more "alien" yet relatable in a way more common to the best of science fiction than a fantasy that on the surface is fairly formulaic; more of the elves, gnomes, dragons and other elder races. ( Okay, I admittedly have a soft spot for books that don't treat gnomes like lawn ornaments and actually let them have a "race," a society ... and for books that don't just recycle what other books have done with elves and dragons.).

The story and characters ... ooh ... so much has happened and developed. Much of the elves/humans politics still murky. Everything that has happened has made sense and much resolved. Clearly more to go with series, though. Some deaths and injuries, of course, were not happy ones -- Moon doesn't spare the realities of battle. She masterfully balances the story line where it's not all gore and death (certainly not George R.R. Martin levels of character deaths); but, it's not shied away from or all fluff, promotions, victories, romance and pomp.

I'm not sure what I can really detail without major spoilers. I just love reading this story and of these characters. Will of course be continuing on with the series. But, I really need to clear the hangover from this one and wait until I can set aside time for what I expect to be another non-stop read-in-one sitting book.

*©2015. All rights reserved except permission is granted to author or publisher to reprint/quote in whole or in part. Copyrightholder may have posted on booklikes, goodreads, Leafmarks, and may have cross-posted to other book sites. Posting on any site does not grant that site permission to share with any third parties.

Ratings scale used in absence of a booklikes suggested rating scale:

★★★★★ = All Time Favorite 
★★★★½ = Extraordinary Book. Really Loved It.
★★★★☆ = Loved It.
★★★½☆ = Really Liked.
★★★☆☆ = Liked.
★★½☆☆ = Liked parts; parts only okay. Would read more by author.
★★☆☆☆ = Average.   Okay. 
★½☆☆☆ = Disliked or meh? but kept me reading in hopes would get better.
★☆☆☆☆ = Loathed It. Possibly DNF and a torturous read.
½☆☆☆☆ = So vile was a DNF or should have been. Cannot imagine anyone liking.  (Might also be just an "uploaded" word spew or collection that should not be dignified by calling itself a "published book." If author is going batshit crazy in the blogosphere over reviews -- I now know why they are getting bad reviews.  Or maybe author should take remedial classes for language written in until basic concepts like using sentences sink in. Is author even old enough to sign a publishing contract or do they need a legal guardian to sign for them?)