This is the fourth book in the Imager series, pushed back in time 500 years. Our hero this time is Quaeryt, a politically astute scholar who is amazingly skilled at everything to which he puts his hands or his mind. He questions Lord Bhayar, the ruler of the country (essentially the king), a little too much about the military structure used by one of the governors, and ends up in the north end of nowhere trying to find out the answers.

As is usual with Modesitt's Imager series, there are plenty of situations for Quaeryt to use his imaging skills or show off his observation/logic skills. There are bullies, thieves, traitors, and then plenty of battle scenes for the final third of the book. And unfortunately, by that time, we-as-readers had already been told the answers, so all I was waiting for was how it was going to get resolved. The last three pages wrapped up the entire plot so neatly and completely that Modesitt really did not have to write a sequel here. (There is one planned and listed in the front of the book.)

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as the second book in the origial Imager Portfolio trilogy. The first half of the book was interesting and enjoyable, especially once Quaeryt got north and started meeting some of the more interesting people. Unfortunately, the second half of the book was too long for too little content. The battle scenes were too often and for too little point, and the repetition of "No, I'm not a chorister." got quite old quite quickly. So I'll recommend this for anyone wishing to continue the series, but not for anyone wanting to start into the Imager universe. Start with Imager, and go from there.