probably not the best book to introduce me to Rice’s writing, but this 1,000 + page book has an ending that is just a lead in to another book. The story, while interesting, is left meaningless without its conclusion, and I consider it somewhat bad form to end the first book in a series so that it could not stand alone (keep in mind that LOTR was intended to be a single book) and to not be able to come to a better conclusion of 1000 pages is just offensive to me since some really fantastic books tell some really fantastic and comlete stories in that breadth.

I don’t intend to read the sequels. The writing style is snobbish, and often lacks direction, foreshadowing is poorly done. The quality of the story itself doesn’t make up for these flaws in my mind. Rice will get another chance, but not with this series.