I have a real Guy Gavriel Kay obsession going on right now, and I was intrigued to read his first novel. I've read somewhat mixed reviews on this book, with many readers complaining that it's derivative old-school fantasy. 
 I love grimdark and nuanced fantasy full of morally ambiguous characters, but every now and then it's fun to return to a classic, high fantasy story, where a dark villain plots world domination. When you have intelligent, believable characters with good world-building, it's easy to overlook the black vs white nature of the story. 
 The book started a little slowly for me. There was a lot of exposition early on and it really didn't feel like a GGK book. (No one does nuance and subtlety better than he. No one!) However, things soon picked up and I found myself immersed in the world and caught up in the new experiences and threats faced by the characters. For sure there is a Lord of the Rings influence (along with every fantasy book written in the 70s/80s) but that's not automatically a bad thing. By the end of the book, I was clamouring for more and will be starting the sequel as soon as it arrives. 
 I can't place this book on the same level as Lions or Tigana, but I also don't think it's fair to compare it to those novels. It's a solid first novel and a great start to a trilogy. It also serves as a fascinating insight into how an author develops over his career. 
 I'm very much looking forward to starting part two, The Wandering Fire.