Ms Friedman can certainly write a pacy book. The pages turned as if blown by a fierce wind and I was disappointed when it was all over. If you are tired of tubby tomes then this tale with a more modest number of pages might be just the thing. There are vogues in fantasy as in any other genre, and this follows in part the current trend of court intrigue, but with a healthy dose of adventure and some dragonlike demons for good measure. The plot strands are kept merrily up in the air as if by a juggler’s art, and I found myself reading late into the night to see what would happen next - it is that sort of a book. I cannot claim that it is wildly original or groundbreaking in any way, but good genre fiction like this is surely more about the way in which it is done. An author to watch out for.