I was excited to start this series having heard good things about it. Characterisation and dialogue are strong although sometimes too pondering. World-building uses a medieval framework on top of a star wars type science-fiction future where earth has been lost and it’s worship turned into the state religion, so far so good.

I found the descriptions and dialogue long winded and pondering. What starts out as involving detail soon became an added weight to the act of reading. The plot slows down here and the impression towards the end of the book was of a few tropes tied together by badly paced writing balanced by an involved and engaging world and plot. This means I can’t fully recommend I think some will love this and some will tire of it.

I am currently reading book 2 Howling Dark as my patience has not yet run out. ★★★ 📚