I am dissapointed. 
 Excellent rendition of military tactics and the problem of pre-modern days communication. 
 Unfortunately, I totally lost interest in the story itself. 
 All the interesting stuff happens off-page. The whole god business, that has so much import on the intrigue, is explained away in a few desultory declarations, turning the book into a side-story of the main action. Broud killing his siblings, the history between the gods, didn't that deserve much more exposure than it really got? 
 We are just forced to accept that we'll never know the whys and hows. Very frustrating! 
 I don't believe I'll read the side novels.