A fun and simple read. The characters were all interesting and I loved the relationship between Herald and Companion. This book is the first of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, so it's a great place to start if you want to pick up a solid fantasy series. I found the world she created to be engrossing and very interesting, however the plot in this book is lacking. It seems to be more about setting up the world and character development. That said, I still had a lot of fun reading this and will be picking up the next book.