Set in "the North, after the time of Arthur," this is a tale of star-crossed lovers from the royal families of rival kingdoms. What made this a good book is how skillfully the author wove this story into a layered tapestry depicting the history, alliances, and issues of the time. Every scene had attention to detail (clothing, food, weaponry, etc.) and her writing is fluent and evocative. I made good use of the map and lists of place names and characters. I wish there had been an author's note a la Penman or Chadwick. Fortunately, I have the next two books in this trilogy. I'm hoping that the next picks up where this one ended.
Tragically this book started out strong and then just fell apart about half way through. And the bow tie ending made absolutely zero sense. I am still not even sure what I read. now the author is a great historian and I can't fault her historical detail, but her writing on humans is sub par. in addition, why are all the Pagans bad guys and all the Christians good? too tidy, too dull.