I wasn't really sure what this book was actually about going into it. The synopsis provided was vague and short. It's not a long book, and after getting through it, I understood why such little information was provided. It'd be too revealing (and perhaps, confusing) otherwise.

I was surprised, however, at how much was packed into its pages. While I feel that I didn't get to know the characters as intimately as I had hoped, I appreciated that the necessities for understanding each of them was still given. The main character Lars didn't really have a positive or negative impact on me personally. His character was indifferent, and I remained indifferent to him throughout most of the plot, until finding out the truth about him in the end (which I didn't see coming.)

What I appreciated most about this book was how the characters interacted with the world, and mythology around them.

It's not very often that we see a "hero's" consequences for taking a life, especially in fantasy tales. There's normally bloodshed, with little-to-no afterthought about those actions, or the lives that were lost. The gods of Mundir hold everyone accountable for their actions. I thought it interesting how no one escapes their choices. Which god one serves is determined by each character's individual actions.
"I do not serve any of your gods."
"In Mundir, you do," Rogan said. "They are gods, Lars! They don't care about your thoughts or beliefs. They make the laws. And in Mundir, every time you take a human life unjustly, you pray to Nex."

These gods are very relevant and influential in day-to-day life. Lars finds this out the hard way when he kills a man in Mundir. Doing so literally changed part of his physique, marking him as a "worshipper" of Nex, a god not highly-esteemed in comparison to the others.

I wished this story was more detailed and had more page time. I think there is a lot here that could be elaborated on in ways that wouldn't be overwhelming or overkill. I really enjoyed this story, but wanted more in context of the mythology, and more of the setting itself. What information is given on the world is well-written, detailed, and unique. I think this would be an enjoyable read for many fantasy-lovers, however, the length of the book may be a point of frustration as well. Either way, I'd still recommend it! If it were ever rewritten into a longer story, I would definitely be reading it again.

Vulgarity: Some.
Sexual content: Some, but nothing explicit.
Violence: Moderate.

My Rating: ★★★½

I had high hopes for this story about a boy setting off to find his family after the death of his mother. He was raised in a desert on the outskirts of a nation with unique gods. As he reaches his first stop, he meets two people who become traveling companions and who begin to teach him about the gods and the society. But the story was lacking. It was confusing and the lack of depth to the characters was disappointing. They were good moments but overall it just wasn't fleshed out enough, especially at the beginning. Good enough idra, but just didn't hold up..