I've previously read other James Rollins books before, but they were more contemporary action and supernatural, so I was excited to read one of his fantasy books, which I had heard good things about. And there's no question that Rollins knows how to write intricately detailed, sophisticated narratives. Unfortunately, that's also a bit of a drawback for me, because the book is just so very slow.

The first installment of a trilogy, the book promises to bring together a unique group of characters who are supposed to save the world. But it was clear from the outset that this book was the exposition for those characters, showing us the histories and the backstories of each of them so that the real story can get underway in the next installment. Once I realized this book was essentially an elaborate setup for a story that would actually get started in earnest in the next volume, I have to admit that I started skimming because there's only so much exposition I can take before I start to lose interest because the plot hasn't actually gotten started.

For what it's worth, I do think it was well written and the characters were well developed (if a little over-developed), so I'm debating whether I want to read the next book in the series now that the exposition is (hopefully) out of the way. The jury's still out on that decision, and I would rate this book a solid B for the quality of the writing and the creative worldbuilding.

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Created Apr 27, 2025 at 2:45pm • Submit your own review...