It was a reasonably fun read, but ultimately doesn't say or do anything new or challenge much of anything at all, in the literary genre or as a commentary on the real world. The story is told in alternating chapters of near and far past, arranged so that the further in the past sections end where the more recently set sections began. It's neat and adds to the tension a little bit, but for such a long book it's just not enough to carry it—especially when the convention was dropped for the last several chapters and can't be carried forward into the three sequels.

And god, the names. It's a problem that I run into a lot in fantasy and it's here in force. There are just too many people with similar but unfamiliar names to keep straight, all scheming and plotting against each other. Intrigue is fun to try to puzzle out, but when I have the full picture but can't remember who did what because they all sound the same, that's not fun.