Review: outstandingly good
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2012
I was quite impressed with this book.  On the one hand, it has a terrific array of the fun elements that make sword and sorcery novels a pleasure to read.  There are battles and chases, narrow escapes, grim villains, and there is action galore.  There is a thief out to burgle a magic vase, a mysterious secret society trying to manipulate the thief, a brave soldier determined to do his duty as things get ever more ambiguous, a terrified child being hunted by powerful forces...But there is a whole other level of beautiful writing and moral dilemma.  We see men struggle with their fundamental natures.  Some of them grow, some of them just become twisted, but all of them change.It's also refreshing to find a fantasy tale set in bronze-age Mesopotamia instead of the generic fantasy re-treads of Medieval western Europe.