Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed on 2/24/2022 + 1032 more book reviews

Good fantasy world-building, relatable and sympathetic characters, and good pacing. Just because of the type of book this is, most readers cannot help thinking about Game of Thrones, like every high fantasy used to be compared to LOTR. So yep, it's similar, put that out of the way, this is its own book. Shifts POV between five people with Cithrin and Geder the main characters. I really liked the banking aspect, dull though it may seem at first, but Abraham makes it clear how money influences politics. I liked that there doesn't seem to be much sexism here - Cithrin can be a banker, there's women guards, but also more traditional roles and no one seems to care.I really liked the many different human races and I'd love to know more about them. Being who I am, of course I find Cithrin the most relatable, Clara is kind of opaque to me, and you can't help but like Marcus. Dawson and Geder are harder to like. I thought Abraham did a good job showing us how they believe their actions are moral and justifiable, but Dawson is at best a feudal lord and Geder is a mass murderer. At least it gives him bad dreams. As I write this, it's a 5-book series; I don't know if it ends there but I certainly hope so. I'm planning on reading the next at any rate.

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