First the good stuff: Freaking awesome cover design. Not a ton of typos or errors. A nice, cliffhanger ending that invites you to the next book in the series.

Now for the not so great stuff: For me (and I'm just one reader) this story really drug along. Each point was made, then repeated, then emphasized, and often, made again a few pages later. Even fairly small, simple things -- for example, one character, Godfrey, is pretty much a drunkard. He has never wanted to fulfill his role as a prince. Then, after his father dies he begins to feel the urge to become more responsible. The point is made several times, at a couple of different points in the story.

The other thing that I didn't particularly like is that the book is almost all "telling" instead of "showing." I don't make this criticism lightly, because I think it is thrown around far too often. But, in the case of this book, I feel it is valid. There is some dialog, but not much. Almost all of the story occurs in the minds of the characters, which is not a terrible thing, but I think it's part of the reason it felt like the story dragged.

I don't think I'll read the rest of the books in this series, but if you are a big fan of fantasy, or what I think of as "clean" fiction (no cursing, a big point made of the fact that a young couple stays dressed and just kisses, etc) you may like this series. Also -- if you choose to read it, you may want to start with book 1. A March of Kings is book 2. I bought it through a BookBub deal at a deep discount. (Which leads me to mention another strong point: even though it is book 2, I didn't feel at all confused so it certainly stands on its own merits.)