To be clear this was a re-read because I was planning to get into 'Witness for the Dead' soon. Now, I know I read this but when I did it must not have made a clear impression and would have been in a period when I was not logging reading to Goodreads. This book has extremely positive reviews and word of mouth that I kept banging into, adding to my confusion as to why I did not have a strong recollection of it.
Let me just state right now this is deserving of all it's praise and is an outstanding book. Why I do not recall that impression from the previous read I have no idea.
It is a simple premise, what happens when a gentle soul is thrust into feudal power. Unlike most fantasy this book is not interested in long (and often tedious) discourses about the world or magic systems or whatever. It focuses down on the characters and the fact that the world is different is merely stage dressing.
It is also to its credit that it is not bloated as many fantasy works are. There is no intent to make this a multi book tale with the inevitable padding that goes along with that. It's tight, taut in places and has a nice feeling of completion.
I very much recommend this book. To anyone.