This is one of those strange books that I found interesting but not engaging, which in this case is purely down to the prose, which describes items, locations, people and events in beautiful detail, but as one of my old science teachers would say "it is verbal cotton wool", meaning the same could be written more succinctly while still conveying the same information and thus be much more engaging. 

Because of the prose, the pace of the story is fairly slow, but fortunately, both the characters and the plot are developed and delivered in a manner that holds your interest. The main character is Simon, a lowly scullery boy, who is drawn into the events unfolding. A character who I found engaging is Binabik, who befriends Simon after finding him on the run, alone in the woods. Binabik is a Troll, but he's not like any Troll I have come across before.

There are numerous other characters introduced during the story, who come from many different cultures and races, all of whom are mostly well-developed, though I didn't feel emotionally invested in any of them.

This is in the same style as The Lord of the Rings, or the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, slow and richly detailed, making it a book that you need to take your time with, at least in my opinion.