Joanne Bertin

It has been a long time (not as long as it took for this book to come out, but still a long freakin' time) since I've picked up a traditional fantasy novel and actually read it, so I was pretty sceptical at first when I got this one. The plot started out a little confusing - it takes a lot of effort to remember the characters from books that I read so long ago, and much more to sort out their individual stories - but once Bertin got into stride I as hooked. All the major characters were connected smartly, and even though I could see some of the plot points coming the majority of them were still surprising enough. The major conclusion was predictable, but the chase to get there was enough of a thrill to keep me glued to each page.… (more)