Tortured bard is finally released from prison and sets out to find the reason for his torture and his destiny. Well written - Berg has a way with words - and some interesting characters and ideas, but I had trouble believing in some of the characters' motivations and actions. While I like Berg's writing a lot, I don't think this is one of her strongest novels and would recommend the Bridge of D'Arnath trilogy above this one. This stretched my credulity in places and seemed as if the author were a bit heavy handed at times in guiding the action. Which still doesn't make it a bad book, just not as good as some of her others.