This was an amazing read for a fantasy lover. its got everything we look for in a book, dragons, magic, band of heroes, dying cities, trouble, new twists, evil bad guys, elves, danger, humor and countless other fantastic qualities. This book was really good i found it sucked me in right away although i did find some similarities between this book and the lord of the rings series but at the same time it wasn't. the similarities were minor ones like the group of heroes that you follow was kinda like those in LOTR and the plot was somewhat similar but at the same time this was a new book and the plot was exceptional. needless to say that as soon as i was done this book i rushed out to get the next few in the series. one of the best parts about this series are there are soooo many books in the series and i personally can not wait to devour all of them!!!!!! if i could i would give it 4.5 it was an exceptional read and it is the type of fantasy book that i have been missing seeing as most "fantasy" now a days is a weaker version of mythical creatures but i digress this is an amazing read if you love fantasy PICK THIS BOOK UP!!!!!!