The concept for this book is one of those that probably looked great when he was outlining it. But hundreds of pages about some fledging kingdom did not interest me considering the previous four SOT novels. But I soldiered through hoping for some payoff in the end. What I got was robbed,ripped off and cheated.If you are hoping this kingdom plays a future role in the fate of the D'Haran Empire? Don't :(If you are hoping Richard finds some clever way to defeat or dispel the Chimes. Don't :(If you are hoping Richard has some awesome battle with a powerful wizard. Don't :(The ending was such a paste-on that I'm left wondering who really wrote it.At the end of the day, you can skip this book and miss very little in plot advancement. That's the real tragedy of it all.