I feel obliged to write this review because of the average rating of 4 stars. The pacing of this book is very slow. I can skip entire sections, and still find the characters mulling on the same questions over and over again.It's a book of frustrations, none of the characters get any where, same questions are asked again, and again, and again, the same action sequences happen again, and again, and again... There are so many scenes of examining gobstoppers so as to induce involuntary snoring (I wonder if it's the same gobstopper! Hmmm...).Two questions really go through the entire book, 1. what time was Kivrin in the past, and 2. what caused the epidemic.Really, if this book is 1/3 of its size, it would be a much better read.