A little too much of "they're doomed, doomed I tell you...oh no, look, there's an escape". But otherwise ok, the world idea is interesting, and I will read book 2.

This is an epic fantasy (which has been on my shelves for about 10 years). I found it a bit daunting to begin with, the explanation of the worlds, the various races and the becoming was a little confusing for me to grasp straight away but I stumbled through. I'd say that if you enjoy stories with really fleshed out characters and thought out worlds then you'll enjoy it. The description of certain towns, especially Shazmak were so spot on, but not so comprehensive that you want the author to hurry up and move back to the action.

A large portion of the novel was Karan and Llian running from large groups of warriors for various reasons, so the action is there for people who want plot based momentum. I thought Llian was going to have a bit of an epiphany about the histories and how false they seem to be as he finds out more and more but that never really came to fruition.

There are a bunch of strong female characters which is fantastic. I'm interested to know what happens to the characters because there definitely wasn't a resolution at the end but the sheer size of these novels means it will have to wait until I have a decent amount of time!

seriously, this was one of the most boring reads in my life. probably only rivaled by Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris.
There's a lot of backstory hinted at, that never really surfaces or has quite anything to do with the plot. The characters are boring, make totally random decisions based on... nothing, get confronted with problems that make absolutely no sense, and the guys who seemed to be the antagonists were acting like they did because... oh, no reason.
It didn't make any sense to me at all. The style was veeery drawn-out, which in combination with the not exactly sympathetic characters made a very boring read. I barely finished, then chunked the book on my "trash, don't need to keep that one"-pile. I don't think I ever got the point what this first book was supposed to be about, besides running away from things that didn't quite make sense.

Written by an Australian, this is book 1 in an epic fantasy saga spanning multiple trilogies. The book has strong characters mostly surrounding the intertwining lives of Karan and Llian. This is a huge world with stunning detail of the world and its multiple races. Engaging and suspenseful until the end....already started the second.

I recently re-read this as I remembered enjoying the series in my childhood, but unfortunately that impression didn't hold up. Two stars for an original setting and plot, but aside from that there's not much else going on. The characters, while decently developed are unlikeable and inept, particularly the two leads, and the relationships are shallow and there's little justification as to why any of them care about each other at all. The story is set in the present, but relies heavily on the events of a past crisis which is shrouded in mystery. What we do learn about past events is laid out in a series of info dumps as remembered by whichever character's point of view would be most convenient. Which is another problem with the writing; while not objectively problematic, the 3rd person omniscient voice, in this case proves distracting as the narrative jumps from one character's thoughts to another with little distinction. It also cheapens the characters and relationships as the reader is simply told flat out what everyone is feeling about each other at any given moment.

One final, curious point; the author does deserve some credit for presenting a diverse cast of characters and cultures. About half the main cast is female, and they all hold their own in terms of power with the male characters. There doesn't seem to be a gender based cultural stratification which is refreshing in an older fantasy novel. There are also prominent characters from fantasy analogues of non-western cultures, another pleasant surprise.

All in all, an entertaining, if frustrating bit of light reading. I wouldn't mind being stuck on an airplane with it, but probably not one to move to the top of your to-read list.

I gave this book a lot of chances, but is just not for. I managed to get 25% through, but the why this author writes wants to make me hit him. It reminded me a lot of the Earthsea book. That was considered a classic, so I ploughed through (and it was short). This is over 20 hours. I know people like this book, and the author was recommended, but it is not for me at all.