As several people have remarked, this book is far too long. Partly this is because only one arc of the story is interesting, and partly because the author spends a lot of time in second gear. As usual with this genre, it's big on crowns and bloodlines - peasants turn out to be lost inheritors of illustrious forebears and are possessed of super-duper powers. Several characters wander about with no real function, and the Great Evil is but a bubble.