This is the first book in a while where I've ordered the next book before finishing the current one (I think the last time was the Shades of Magic trilogy). It's good, solid fantasy, but with enough original elements that you don't think it's just a rehash of something you've read before. Unlike older fantasy novels, there are plenty of female characters who exist in their own right - rather than as an appendage to or a love interest for a male character - and relationships which don't involve a man and a women falling in love, getting married, and living Happily Ever After.

Oh, and I didn't see how the various strands of the novel were connected until about two thirds of the way through, which was a nice surprise.