I was very bored for the vast majority of the reading of this—only in the last hundred (give or take) pages did I start to get invested. It seemed to drag on, lingering over moments that did not need it and passing quickly over others. There was a tendency to tell grand swathes of years in pages, so that Taliesin and Arthur went from twenty-six to forty in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

And speaking of those two: they’re boring. Taliesin, despite being the perspective character, has little of consequence actually happen to him; he seems like an observer in everyone else’s life. Arthur, on the other hand, is either an insufferable brat or a constantly melancholy and dismal adult. He’s dull, and moody, and I would hate to be around him.

Another thing—this book has a tendency to not explain things in full, or to simply assume the reader will know things. It’s frustrating, to say the least. Such as in describing the plan for the final battle—it is mentioned several times that the “center” is “not a true center”, but the reader is not told why until several pages later.

Honestly, this could have been way better. I expected more, considering it has such high reviews.