The plot was so very clichée and dragged on a bit.
I liked that the story actually followed the protagonist from Azoth to Kylar of the span of 9 years without seeming too forced. And I loved that the ending was open enough to make it clear it was supposed to be a series from book one, while finishing it up enough to not let you entirely hang in the middle of nothing.

On the othwr hand, I'm not a fan of the setting, it was too close to epic fantasy to be truly enjoyable for me (which I should have guessed). I couldn't really figure out the political connections, intrigues and how the mighty relate to one another. I also have no idea about the religious powers , neither how important the god/potential other religions are, nor how wide spread.