I didn't find it as catching as the Black Jewels Trilogy, however, I really did enjoy the book. I generally like the worlds Bishop builds, and the characters and kinds that go in them, so I guess it was to be expected I would enjoy it blindly. All in all I'm quite content with the book. I'd say it's a recommended read if you really enjoyed her other books, not so sure as a first read of her series, though.The story was nice, nothing I found out of the ordinary, but nothing that bored me out of my mind (though It began being a little annoying towards the end of the book). I found Sebastian (the character) entertaining at first, though I can't say I fancied the change towards the end, even if it was a "good" change and a "good" ending. I did end up liking Teaser more towards the end. ( )

Like Belladonna, it was great to read about a main or central character in more detail. I cannot get enough of Anne Bishops realm - simply wonderful. ( )

Maybe just a little slow in the beginning, otherwise it would have been a full five star read. Interesting world, good characters with several dimensions (also the side characters were adequately described), and a sweet love story. All that, AND I happen to think that home is where your heart is. ( )

Sebastian takes place in Ephemera, a world affected--literally--by human emotions. To keep things somewhat stable, there are Landscapers who shape the landscape and Bridges, who connect them. And there are wizards and demons and incubi and succubi.

The eponymous Sebastian is a half-incubus. Rejected as a child by his wizard father and by other children because of his heritage, he nonetheless experienced love and acceptance during the periods when his father allowed him to stay with his aunt and cousins.

Now he lives in a landscape created by ultra-powerful rogue Landscaper Belladonna called the Den of Iniquity with others of his kind and, surprisingly, a pure and innocent young woman, Lynnea, with whom he's falling in love.

But the Eater of the World has escaped and is threatening all of Ephemera, and it's up to Sebastian and Belladonna to save the world.

The entire story is like a fable, the moral of which is the need for balance. Sebastian's history is one of love balanced by rejection--necessary to mold his character. The Den of Iniquity is just as necessary to Ephemera as Sanctuary, its opposite. Landscapers learn early on that all emotions, not just positive ones, are required to form a stable landscape. Balance is the goal of the characters in the story, even if they don't know it--it's what they need to be whole, complete, and happy. Or put another way, it's about shades of gray.

Sebastian and Belladonna are dark heroes, but despite their supernatural abilities, they're dark in a human and understandable way. This is a much lighter book than Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, which is not to say it's a lesser book, but it's definitely different--and because expectations affect enjoyment so much, don't expect a reprise of Daemon and Jaenelle here. Kudos to Bishop for that, by the way: she wrote an excellent dark fantasy series, and now she's writing something else.

I have the next book on my to-buy list. I'm looking forward to it. ( )

I didn't really care for this book, and I've given myself the past week after reading it to try to discover WHY? The plot was there, it progressed, their was character growth, the author's voice is enjoyable, not astounding, but I've read and enjoyed worse. The point of view in the book was pretty consistent. I came to the conclusion that nothing in the book really stood out as being very difficult for the characters to handle. They seemed to be going through the motions instead of feeling the emotions. At least, that's the way it came across to me. I'll read the next one most likely, but probably borrowed from the library. I don't care enough about this to have it in my permanent collection. ( )