I'm sorry to say that I consider this the worst book Misty has written, bar none. I felt no sense of urgency until I was approximately 7/8ths of the way through the book, and when a conflict *finally* arrived, it and the ending were terribly predictable. I'd recommend this book for people like myself who are in love with Valdemar and can't stand the thought of missing a single tidbit, but non-Misty fans would probably hate it. If you've never read any of the Valdemar books, go for the "Last Herald Mage" trilogy - don't bother with this one unless you become addicted. Misty can do much better than this!