Being a fan of all of Russel's earlier works I was eagerly awaiting Beneath the Vaulted Hills. Needless to say I was not dissappointed.Beneath the Vaulted Hills answers so many of the questions left unanswered in Moontide and Magic Rise. Of course there are a great many new questions revealed in this novel also.Taking place decades before Moontide and Magic Rise, we get the chance to meet many charcters from the MT&MR book in their prime, or characters that were long dead before MT&MR.I think one of the strengths with this book (as well as MT&MR) is that there are mysteries in the world and we see how people interact among them. Of course this is also one of the most frustrating things as we can't know. Its like going to Greece and looking at the ruins and having to draw our own conclusions.Needless to say I enjoyed this book and it certainly left itself open for a follow-up novel. But also if the story ended then and there, that is just fine.