Review: Great Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 1, 2012
This is the second book I have read by the team of Martin and Small and I am continually impressed by their ability to craft a novel as if it was written by one person. For me, voice and characterization are always of utmost importance and this one does justice to both.  While I am not usually a reader of epic fantasy, I completely accepted the premise presented - an assassin sent to retrieve the twins born to a witch falls under a spell that makes him their protector .  What really amazed me were the number of surprises I encountered in this novel. The plot is rather straightforward, the path the authors took to get me there was not. What a delight to find myself turned around each time I thought I had everything figured out. Beware, though, one of the surprises is the violence in this novel. It is perfectly appropriate to the story and the reason these encounters stay in my mind is because they are extraordinarily well written. In fact, the action sequences are superb. I would recommend this book and am happy I dipped my toe into the genre.