Elfstones is a great book. It is amazing to compare the writing with Sword, Brooks' first publishing effort, and see how far he had come in such a short time. The characterization was much better, the dialogue was great, the action was far superior, and the plot was much more interesting. While I could put down Sword and walk away for weeks at a time, only returning to it when I had nothing better to do, I couldn't put Elfstones down. It was entirely engrossing and a great read from beginning to end. One of Brooks' best efforts to date!