Cook takes what could have been a pretty standard fantasy story about the battle between unthinkably powerful and magical leaders, and gives it quite an unusual perspective by telling the story from the point of view of a physician in a mercenary army hired to work for one of the factions. The plot isn't spoon-fed to you; the reader is left to piece together the bigger picture exactly as the soldiers have to. There is no clear good and evil, no obvious right and wrong; this is a book with a lot of shades of grey and a very down to earth, gritty feel. I didn't find the overall war nor the world it's set in particularly intriguing or original, but it was an interesting read just because of the unusual perspective, and the physician narrator is likable.