Review: Changelings, witches, centaurs, and deep characters.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2012
Ronan the blacksmith lives in a world of high magic.  Most people, including himself, try to avoid the more magical regions.  Lately, he made a sword of white metal to the specifications of the King.At the very start, the king's guard sent to pick up the blade was mostly killed, except for one guard.  The survivor gets to the blacksmith, and with dying words tells him to deliver the sword.Ronan doesn't particularly want to travel.  He takes his apprentice.  A witch comes in, who tends to know where she needs to be.  The horse trader knows the way, and will lend horses, and escort him.In their early travels they meet Mikal, an honest changeling theif, and Bryan the Centaur, who does not like Kings.  THey also meet a lot of people that don't want the sword to be delivered, and they encounter the types of magic that most people try to avoid.I liked this one.  The characters are fairly deep, and believable.  Also, it's clear that there are secrets afoot.  It's like an ongoing mystery, without the benefit of knowing what needs to be solved.There are occasional formatting glitches that should be cleaned up.  Other than that, though, this is the best fantasy novel I've found sinceHorker's Law.  Highly recommended.