I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a book I would really enjoy, near the end of the book I felt a little disappointed though. I loved the setting and the way the characters spoke. When the author wrote "Irigashun" it made me laugh out loud when I realized how pronounced the accent was in my head. (I think I've lived in the south a little too long!) My favorite character was Manchee! I don't even like dogs, I hate them actually, but this one stole my heart! When I got to the part in the story where Manchee was killed I cried like a baby. I am still holding out hope that he will miraculously return in the second book, although I don't think I will read it unless I know that for sure. When I finally figured out why the army wanted Todd is when the book started going down hill. The reason was just........dumb. They didn't need Todd to "fall" in order to conquer the rest of the settlements, so the whole plot fell apart for me there and really after Manchee died I didn't have anything pushing me to finish the book. The ending was horrible! It was a cliff hanger! I expect books in a series to each have their own plot that gets resolved at the end, with the entire series focusing on one major theme or plot. Guess my expectations were too high for this book. Still, I enjoyed reading it.