I read this book this past week while travelling back and forth cross country. It is an excellent book for such a journey; it absolutely makes the time fly by. I agree totally with the gist of the comments given below, so won't repeat them. My wife is in three women's book clubs. When I mentioned it yesterday on my return, she balked due to the perceived violence. And, the Prologue could drive away a woman, I suppose. That's unfortunate. The character Trella, truly the main character in this novel, is quite the Bronze Age feminist and the relationship she and Eskkar establish is one with which any woman would find worth the read. I'll see if I can get my wife to agree to read 50 or 60 pages. She might just find it as enjoyable as I. Looking forward to that sequel.