Review: Very Enjoyable Stand-alone book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 15, 2012
At first I was concerned about the title as it implies that there are numerous books.  I'm getting tired of all of these trilogies lately but decided to take a chance on this book.  I'm so glad I did.  The book takes place in a land where there are elves and humans.  Elves have magic and are viewed as higher class citizens (with more legal protections as well) compared to humans.  Halidan is a human who can read and say the magic Elven chants as she teaches lower-class elves.  Eioth is a high lord of the Elves (there are 9 or so of them) and is a well-educated Elf with strong magic.  He hires Halidan.  The book has elements of romance and adventure with a dash of mystery to it.  The ending was very satisfying AND the ending wrapped up the story nicely.  While I could see that there could be future books in this world with these people, you don't need to buy the next book in the series to "finish" the story!The book was well-written.  I liked the characters and they were written in a believable manner.  There were numerous times that I laughed out loud.  I did struggle at the beginning of the book understanding the world.  Also, while the prejudices against humans were mentioned, at the end, I think that they were glossed over a bit too much (I won't give spoilers).  Also, a few times I thought that there were some inconsistencies (at one point, Eioth says that the baths are needed but once to change the skin but at another point, Halidan talks about how the magic appears to be weakening).  However, these were fairly minor items (and why it was just a four-star book for me).  I really enjoyed the story which was well-plotted with a good ending.  I would like to visit this world again if there is another book!