When Ramita is taken away, Kazim goes berserk and later joins the shihad but of course things are not quite as they seem. This means an author can focus on the story and characters, and as a result, the pace of a book can more quickly engage the reader.

I have a mixed feeling—mostly negative—towards the first half of the book; I won’t lie, if it weren’t because I own the entire quartet already, I think I would’ve DNFed this book. There were some parts I really enjoyed, and there are questions I'd like to keep reading to get the answers too, but it's just not worth it for me.It's been a little while since I read a book which is THIS GOOD and has so many ideas and strings which all pull together in a magnificent way. This is the first book in a Quartet which makes me so happy and excited because it means I still have three great, long books ahead of me.

Alan becomes involved in a political scheme where he is sent on a mission to discover the origins of the ascendant mages power, the Scytale of Cornelius. The writing was well structured but the characters I felt could have been given more depth and personality as they didn’t feel completely real. Ramon is his friend within the academy, Cym is a gypsy who Alaron teaches, and together they're the best of friends.They were portrayed as helpless victims of the maniacal mages of Yuros with no counterbalance at all. Elena, a powerful mage in her own right, sees that Yuros is only concerned with conquering and exploiting Antiopia and is determined that the continent be ready for the attack when it eventually comes.