Kribu

Probably closer to 3.5 stars.

It took me a bit to get into this book - the prologue in particular made me wonder if I should even bother reading on, filled as it was with said-bookisms. I don't even know if it was a deliberate stylistic choice or whether the prologue escape all the editors, as the rest of the book was, mercifully, a little less cluttered with them (although still not free of things such as "'Absolutely,' she affirmed").

That said, while it was a lot more fantasy-world than I generally like, and while it was a stereotypical, straightforward Hero's Quest sort of story, which I also as a rule don't much care for, it grew on me. It was never dull and the characters, protagonists as well as the supporting cast, were engaging enough. The twist towards the end caught me by surprise (granted, most twists in most books do), although it made a lot of sense in hindsight.

Overall, I'm quite sure I'll read on in this series, although I probably won't move on to the second book right away.