Right now (~1/3 of the way through with some skipping of awkward bits that I should go back and read) I love this book:
Why?
1. Romance. Chapter 1 is great if you've read the previous book (Spell Hunter aka Knife).
2. Adventure and excitement! Or, if you prefer, you get to read about other people suffering adventure and excitement while you are cozily reading.
3. A certain scene with a gun.
4. Characters with real faith and real doubts.
5. So far the main characters complement each other very well: they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. This is a big relief from certain other popular books where there's been a huge imbalance of power. And it looks from a distance like they might be just friends instead of a romantic pairing. I love reading about good friendships and people who don't need to fill up silence with words, because they're comfortable with each other.
6. I have a reasonable guess about who the bad guy is and can still happily assume I'm wrong, because I was so wrong in the first book. Whether my guess is right or wrong, either way it's a surprise.
7. The cover is a beautiful shade of reddish orange at the right angle. I don't think I quite got it in my photo.
