The bones for this story were there. On paper (har har) this seemed to be everything I'd want in a fantasy story. But there were so many elements that fell flat or were under developed, that it ended up leaving me disappointed. The idea of the Chosen One dying and dooming the world to destruction while his best friend tries to pick up that mantle despite all odds is fascinating! I was so excited to read about it. But from the get-go, there was so much that held me back from enjoying the story. Firstly, the dialogue is pretty poorly written. Not only does it feel unrealistic, but also stilted and unnatural. Characters swung between wildly overreacting and responding inappropriately given the context of the conversation.

So many characters fit into neat little tropes that felt boring and tired. Aaslo is the fearless, stoic leader that can do no wrong. But we also have the cocky nobleman, the spunky street rats, the fiery love interest, and the aloof wizard. Characters falling into tropes isn't bad in and of itself, but when you have a cast of characters that are nothing but tropes, I get bored.

While I did find the story interesting, the pacing was all over the place. There were long drawn out sections of the story where the characters were stagnant for seemingly no reason, breakneck action and story development, then back to stagnation throughout the whole book.

However, my largest complaint about this first book is that it had no story of its own. It had no resolution or meaningful conflict that was conquered. No built-up antagonist that needed to be defeated. In my opinion, this book's gravest sin was that it served only as an introduction to the over-arching conflict of the series and did not stand on its own. This always makes me feel unfulfilled and like I wasted my time. It does not compel me to continue the series. It makes me question why the story couldn't include a better three act arc. Bummed that this didn't live up to what I hoped it would be.