The first half was a bit slow, and it takes a while to orient yourself in Seraphina's world. There is a lot of new fantasy vocabulary that is hard to pronounce in your head, and difficult to ascertain the meaning of right away. At the half way mark, though things started happening with a bit more frequency, and the second half of the book is much more of a page-turner.

Hartman's plotting has been done very well, and there were actual surprises as the storyline unfolded. I really enjoyed the characters and they were all fleshed out nicely. I quite liked Seraphina, her friends, and family, and thought the world of dragons was handled in a very interesting and unique way. The storyline itself allows for a lot of discussion about religion, peace, politics, and the submission or oppression of another group of cognizant beings.

The world building was excellent, and I was particularly grateful for my kindle so I could look up the many historical words and wide vocabulary Hartman uses. Some authors throw in big or unusual words and it can end up reading like a Thesaurus research project, but all the characters (even the seemingly sillier ones) utilize a rich vocabulary, setting the tone for a people that value scholarly pursuits as a whole.

There are a lot of things left dangling, but they aren't dangling in an irritating way. It's not a gigantic cliffhanger, though I am mildly annoyed the next book isn't available to read right now (I tend to wait on series until they are finished so I can read them at once), but I will wait patiently and definitely read the next one.