This is the worst fantasy book I have ever read... derivative storyline, incredibly slow plotting (broken up by nonsensical action sequences), paper thin characters,... and my biggest complaint... a world that is not logically consistent.Only after coming to Amazon did I find out there are actually 10 of these pieces of trash out there. To people who actually read all these books, you are braver than I.My recommendations: Tokien, Glen Cook, Cherryh, George Martin.