First in the Tamir Trilogy fantasy series. Wow! What a gripping story! Young Tobin is a Prince of Skalar, a haunted and strange prince. Kept isolated by his father at their country keep, Tobin and their household are haunted by a demon, who is actually Tobin's twin who died at birth. His mother has been mad and unhinged since the night of his birth and his father often absent away fighting one war or another for his brother-in-law the King, so Tobin's only friends are the household servants and Nari, his nurse. Those people closest to Tobin know a secret about him but cannot reveal it. A strange and somewhat gruesome tale at times, the whole storyline fascinated me and the author's writing style made the book VERY difficult to put down. It certainly read much quicker than its 500+ pages would have you think. An A-plus effort!

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This is probably the scariest book I've ever read (edited: until I read The Shining.) I love the world that Lynn Flewelling created (even though I thought the magic was kinda hokey). This book will always be one of my favorites.

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The Tamir trilogy starts out gritty and tense and carries on to a strong finish. I loved this series beginning to end and would recommend it to anyone who likes good fantasy. There are elements of horror here, a great system of magic, and gripping human drama.

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Oh my goodness - This book is fantastic. The worse thing about this book is that it is a sequel, but a fantastic cliffhanger. I was so anxious to find out what would happen when the "mask" came off and how relationships would be affected. But I have to wait for book two. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET IT. Luckily, I did not read it when first published so I do not have to wait. I have already ordered the next TWO books in the series. I recommend this book to everyone no matter your reading preference. I loved this story. Worthy of rewards.

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The whole trilogy was awesome

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I love this series! Believable and magical.

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One of the best series I have ever read. Loved, Loved, Loved this series. Couldn't put the books down and needed/wanted to read the next and next. There are some disturbing ideas such as hiding a girl in a boys body and the descriptions that went with the concept but the story line works.

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I'll be honest, it took me a little while to get into this book. It just seemed so dark and I wasn't sure I felt comfortable rooting for what was supposed to be the good guys! I still would hesitate before recommending this book to anyone with kids; a book that starts out with the ritual murder of a newborn is just going to be disturbing, no way around it. But I stuck with it because it was highly recommended to me by someone I trusted-- and I'm glad I did. Once Tobin becomes the viewpoint character, everything really picks up and runs. Before I knew it, I could not put the thing down. It's still pretty dark--the ghost child, for instance, is heartbreaking and pitiful and creepy as all heck--but you realize most of these characters are truly trying to do what is right and good, even if they're making an unholy mess of it.

Now I'm dying to get my hands on the second book.

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