I enjoyed how complex the world and plot was. I’ve been reading a lot of more straight-forward books, I suppose, because I really enjoyed the cryptic clues and red herrings and foreshadowings, as well as the background “noise” of the world created. The world Hobb created wasn’t unique in any startling way and parts of it seemed reminiscent of other works and worlds created by other authors, but the overall organization was pleasantly new enough that I wasn’t bothered. Gripes: The beginning showed more promise and foreshadowing than I felt was realized in the book (perhaps later books in the series will fulfill what I envisioned could come to pass), the climax was dramatic but VERY short, there seemed to be many passages and even whole chapters that had really no point to them except as further illustration of the fantasy world, which seemed kind of a cheat; the description should have been more natural, maybe. The characterization was excellent (only a couple characters seemed like stock fantasy characters), but the main character was too withdrawn and introspective for my tastes (too much like myself to fully enjoy it). If anything the book seemed short because of the uneven pacing (a loooong buildup with a very short climax), but the myriad loose ends is precisely to my tastes.