Doesn’t get much better than this for me with fantasy. It definitely errs on the too slow and plodding side, but that’s the side I want to err on with epic fantasy.

This was one long devastation, which is part of why it took me 2 months to read it. Hobb gets me in the feels and creates characters I care about, characters I hate, characters that frustrate me. Everything is awful in this book and it keeps getting worse. Whee!

I love how the characters are varied and flawed, sometimes intensely so. Wintrow is one of the strongest for me. He’s got a unique perspective, and he’s annoying, but I’m also sympathetic to his situation. And Kyle and Malta stirred up anger in me like I swear I haven’t felt since Joffrey. I had to keep reminding myself Malta is a child