3.5 Stars! 
 A fairly solid start of a series with potential is how I would describe Seven Forges. 
 Whilst there are some promising character development and nice world building, there are a few holes in the plot and the magic being used really has not been explained yet. I expect that to change in future books though, so it is not worrying me at the moment. 
 As mentioned above, the characters are showing promise. The lead men Merros and Worris have a great rapport and the introduction of the Sa'ba Taalor certainly took the book to another level as they are a fascinating people, who are hard not to like. But like all religious zealot stories, leaves you slightly nervous. Given that they take their instructions from the gods who speak directly to them, then your plans to work with them or deal with them can change dramatically. 
 I do want to see more explanation of the magic on hand, just saying, it comes from the sprites and it costs you won't cut it if that is not developed further in book 2. Plus the Seven Forges gods need some detailing, but you can pretty much tell that is going to happen. 
 I felt this book was a little hurried, there were many parts of the story where more time and development would have improved the story, but was instead a quick 'and that's that". I am pretty confident though that the pacing will settle out in future books. 
 One of the other areas of eyebrow raising, is Moore's writing of female characters. Every. Single. One. Of. Them is drop dead gorgeous. Not a plain woman in sight. He sounds a bit of a perv in his writing as dirty old men (kings) fantasize about shagging with nieces and the lead man, Merros, wins hands down the award for the character most in need of getting laid. I think the entire reading group gave a sigh of relief when he got that happening. But it must be said; the female characters are not simpering, beautiful playthings. There are lot of strong roles here, Swech is one that gets the blood going I can tell you ;) 
 I do like Moore's writing and it has me thinking just what is exactly that makes me enjoy one story over another. Those that know me, know that I recently struggled big time with Gwynnes series The Faithful and the Fallen, which is getting great reviews and happy campers, but I was utterly bored with it and i'd love to know what is the difference in the writing that has me enjoying one story and really not liking another. It has to be in the writing style, because both books have a solid storyline and characters that have potential. 
 Anyway, I will certainly carry on with this series and I am very positive that it will be one that i grow to enjoy much more.