If I manage to finish the complete story, then I will give it a rating. For now, all I can say is that I'm trying, I'm trying, and it's not easy, I virtually languished with this first installment for a week. Now I'm with the second book, I don't know if I'll finish it.

Well, it will be a case of personal tastes. I'm very picky when epic fantasy is the matter.

Hey, I'm one of that rara avis that have not seen -and of course, I have not read- Game of Thrones. Moreover, I have not managed to get through the Harry Potter fourth book, despite how much I liked the first and the third books of the series.

Unfortunately that's a dnf from me. I knew going into it, that it's mix of two different universes, but I also thought that fantasy element in it would save it for me. It didn't. ( )

I’d read positive reviews about Ginn Hale’s books – and wow! This exceeded my expectations. I have to admit, I knew this wasn’t from a mainstream publisher, and also that it’d been released as an online serial, and both of those things made me doubtful. But I have to say, there’s absolutely no reason Hale shouldn’t be picked up by a mainstream publisher (if she wants to be – I don’t know). The writing is excellent, and the story is a fresh and interesting take on the theme of people from our world being transported into another land and forced to make their way. (I'd definitely recommend this for fans of Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry).

John is a graduate student. His roommate Kyle is a little weird and disturbing, with his scars and his tendency to carry weapons and disappear without explanation. But John needs the rent money – and, though he doesn’t really want to admit it, Kyle is pretty hot, too. But when Kyle’s gone, rent is due, and a letter arrives for his roommate, John gets nosy and opens the letter. (It feels like it contains a key, and he suspects Kyle might be returning his house key and not coming back.) It IS a key – but not the house key. It’s the key that ends up transporting John and his two best friends: the new-agey psychic Laurie and her boyfriend Bill, into another land.
Little could John have guessed that his roommate was the Khalil, one of the only adepts able to make the dangerous crossing between worlds, and that his assignment was to involve killing John, who may be the prophecied Rifter, who could destroy both worlds.

There are a few disorientingly abrupt transitions, and some events go implied when I would actually rather have read about them. It’s also by no means a complete story – there are sequels. But I really do want to read those sequels.
( )

It has been a while since I read the Cadelonian series, but so far this series is quite different. The writing is still good, it's just hard for me to connect with the characters (but this is the first of ten). I do like John and Kyle, especially the latter's way of reasoning out the way the world works. At the moment, though, it's just a little confusing as to where things are headed. Laurie seems to have some abilities in Basawar she didn't in America, but I'm not sure what Bill's purpose is yet. Or John's either. At this point I'm not sure I like Bill or Laurie, but I do think John is interesting. He's trying to learn the language and learn more about the new world around him--I like how he connects with the earth.

But, it is the first of ten, and I hadn't realized they were serialized monthly, so I'm glad they are all out before I started reading (sometimes I do get lucky). The world is incredibly bleak, dangerous, and pretty much downright scary. Along with the number of things seeming to need blood sacrifices to work, and John's first sight of the local population is not a cheery one.

I'm still not even quite sure where to rate it, because I'm confused (not entirely uncommon), the characters are confused, and where's Kyle?

OK, I know, 9 more to go. A lot could (and I'm sure will) happen. ( )

This story is short, it's almost like a prologue, setting up the story to come. We meet John and his mysterious roommate, Kyle. It reminds me a bit of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, with a desolate wasteland, and in tiny ways crossing paths with our own world. Kyle has been traveling between worlds for years, watching John, a Rifter (we readers still don't know what that is at this point), when John accidentally manages to stumble into Kyle's world, dragging his friends Bill and Laurie with him. And that sets us up for what looks to be a fascinating series that I am most anxious to continue reading.

Romance lovers should know though, that there is no romance to be found in this first episode, although there are tiny hints that something might be on the horizon. ( )