I'm a fan of Mercedes Lackey's books by and large, especially her early Valdemar books, and despite her being prolific I've managed to read most of them--this is the weakest book I've read by her, and I'm not sure how much to blame her co-writer, James Mallory. Some of the book's weaknesses are ones I've seen in other books of hers: mainly that she's very black and white, with little nuance in her villains and their motivations.
This story actually had a lot of original elements which makes me wish this could have been a stronger book. I liked the idea behind magic in this book, and it, and the culture of the city, raises some interesting questions.
A lot of the problem, I think, is the protagonist, Kellen, whom I found whiny and hard to care about. Another part was just pacing, I think. Too much of the story made me want to skim, just didn't hold my interest. Nor is this a very interesting treatment of elves among those I've read. Feist, Moon, and, of course, Tolkien are better bets if you're looking for a good read in High Fantasy, and Arrows of the Queen or Joust would make better introductions to Lackey.
