Well, I did remember just about everything about this one. It is the slowest moving of three, that is for sure, but it wasn't a painful re-read or anything like that... though I do remember being a bit disappointed the first time I read it because it takes a while for Karal to become as likable of a character as say, Elspeth or Talia. Although, Altra and Florian do help that. And the problems of this trilogy are probably the most interesting because everything is so dire. So, I am excited to read the next two, though I am now starting to think that there is very little that I don't recall from all of my previous re-reads.
Loved the series. This is the first of three and a wonderful book.
Karse and Valdemar have long been enemy kingdomes - their peoples filled with mutual prejudice and mistrust. Only the vile deeds perpetrated on both kingdoms by Ancar of Hardorn, and the subsequent emergence of the armies of the Eastern Empire in the wake of his defeat, have forced these two so-different lands into an uneasy alliance.
For the Eastern Empire, which has long been isolated and shrouded in mystery, is ruled by a monarch whose magical tactics may be beyond any sorcery known to the Western kingdoms.
Forced to combat this dire foe, not only must traditional enemies unite, but the Companions may, at last, have to reveal secrets which they have kept hidden for centuries... even from their beloved Heralds.