My 12-year-old son recommended this series to me, and I was surprised at how much I liked this first book. The story is alternately mysterious and exciting. I appreciated the author's skillfulness at his craft... At one point, in the middle of a battle with a fierce, almost invincible creature, he takes us on a double flashback, no less, back to earlier in the fight and then to the minutes leading up to the fight, without losing any momentum at all. This book is a great setup for a series; I can't wait to check out the others. My son has been reading them like a chain smoker smokes cigarettes!