Stefan

Overall an engaging story set in an interesting fantasy universe with diverse and interesting characters.

The realm of the Northern Kingdoms is a gritty, low fantasy setting full of various monsters, factions, and politics, reminiscent of Medieval Europe(then again, I found few fantasy books that isn't). It does a good job giving the plot a backdrop full of political intrigue and the foreboding of an impeding war, in which the main characters try not to get dragged into.

As far as the characters go, it seems that all the supporting characters are more interesting than the protagonist himself, which actually turned out to not be a bad thing. Not to give too much characterization here, but the main character is your typical silent badass with not a lot of spoken lines. However, this does not mean that we don't learn anything about said character, as through him though, we get much information from the world and about the character himself, whether through his interactions or his thoughts.

What I liked:
The world is set up in a personal way which makes it feel like I'm reading someone's personal account(which I am actually). So the perspective of the world is immersive.
The Chandrian is an interesting concept that is touched upon briefly.
The main character for as much as a gary sue as he is, still feels human based on certain actions he takes, and the thoughts he has.

What I disliked:
Very slow start.
Main character is a gary sue, just good at everything. Takes away from some of the tension of situations knowing that the main character will just make it out of their since he's just that smart.
The Chandrian were a bit too much in the background for my liking. It was a focal point early in the book, but it never really gets anywhere.