Fantasy is so often long--even crossing over into "bloated"--that it's surprising when you get a book that's so tightly written. In the beginning I was expecting to be overwhelmed by the worldbuilding--lots of magical places and things thrown into conversation at once--but it's actually just a deft way of establishing there is a whole world here without us having to know everything about it. The things that are important are as clear as they need to be, because what's important is the effect on an experienced sea captain of a mysterious young girl with an important quest.

I really liked and believed all the characters, especially the captain. She's completely horrified by the religious practices of the group to which her young passenger belongs, and it's put across in such a way that I wound up really feeling for the captain and the betrayal she feels when no one else shares it. At heart this is a story about the characters and how they affect each other with the magic and plot there to serve that.