One thing I really like about Brandon Mull is that his writing is so inventive and it feels different. He's got a crazy good imagination, and it shines through in his writing, especially in this series. There are none of the typical elves, dwarves, and wizards. There are fantasy races in this book that are completely different, and if I'm honest, so different I can't even picture them. But that's not a bad thing. It's great to read something new and fresh.

The writing is solid and there's a lot of action here. The characters are dealing with one thing after another, and things very rarely slow down for them. There were so many different areas of Lyrian that we visited in the first book that you'd almost think there'd be nothing new to explore in the second. Not so, as we visit new and exciting places and get to experience new adventures right along with the characters. Okay, not literally, which is probably good cause I'd be scared out of my mind if I was living this story. Curled up in a ball hoping to wake up soon kind of scared. But of course, in books, characters are always braver and able to do things that normal people just don't do. That's why we all love these stories. We get to live adventure after adventure and travel the world and visit fantasy worlds and it's wonderful! And this is one of those books that makes me happy that I read.