I have been a long term fan of fantasy and own a fairly significant collection of such literature. So very recently when I chanced upon this book and saw the glowing reviews, I had to read it. My two bits on the effort are as follows – It is a middling read as far as narratives are concerned. While the story has merit, I felt that it lacks the wow factor. The positive conclusion was long foregone and quite unlike what Raymond Feist or Robert Jordan would have developed. It was all too easy in the end. Certain elemental characters were not developed in full and one always got the feeling that the book focussed too much on portraying women as the de-facto lead by denigrating men. One does not have to show men in poorer light to highlight the role of women – by going down that path, the author is guilty of doing exactly what men have done in various fields to the role of women. All narratives build on people and places and ideas. This is an ongoing process and does not have an estimable timeline – by rushing through to the end I feel that Samantha lost out on an opportunity to create a wider stage. Another aspect that struck me was the one dimensional aspect of the narrative – especially when some of the central characters (both good and evil) shared bonds cutting across timelines. That’s all I have to say.