This is not one of Ms. Hamilton's better works. You can see that she wrote this book in the early stage of her career. The character developement isn't complex and i never felt like i could connect to the story or the characters at all. The setting of the world is very dark, gothic and hopeless. But that is just as it is suppose to be. The book starts out rather confusing, especially if you're not familiar with the Ravenloft setting. Overall i didn't really enjoyed it and i don't understand the hype around this book, even if Ms. Hamilton is rather famous nowadays. I would give it a 2 out of 5.

Awesome story. I've always stayed away from her books because I don't care for vampire stories, but the way she writes and describes emotions, I think I might check out a few more of hers.

This is a book that should be read by those who are fans of and understand the Ravenloft world that's popular for Dungeons & Dragons fans. It's not a typical world Hamilton created on her own as the world was created by the D&D creators and Hamilton wrote a story based on that premise. It may be one of her earlier novels, but was still originally published the same year that the 3rd Anita Blake book came out, so it definitely is NOT lack-of-experience that makes this a read that's different to her two popular series. It's due to a strange and different world all-together. This definitely adds to the Ravenloft world, in that such an amazing author has contributed to it. I was impressed how LKH managed to pull a different writing style out for this one so that it blended well with other Ravenloft stories that I've read.

The story itself is well-written and has that gloomy aura that you expect from a land set in the planes of Ravenloft. This story takes place in the land of Kartakass. The domain lord here is Harken Lukas, a wolf-were (not to be confused with a werewolf!) bard who is evil to the core. He loves to manipulate others to further his own gains.

As Elaine struggles to understand the magic within her, the group she travels with encounters Lukas, who is hoping to possess one of them in order to attempt to escape the domain he has been trapped in.

The end of this is classic for Ravenloft fans who will appreciate its darkness. A well-written story!

This was such a departure from the Anita Blake or Merry Gentry books, and I liked seeing what else Hamilton is capable of. It felt like a book written by a different person, which is a good thing. I enjoyed the characters and the story.

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