4.25 stars
This is the kind of fantasy that reminds me why I started enjoying the genre in the first place, it grips like Magician by Raymond E. Feist from the very get-go and holds your attention thereafter all the way through to the denouement. Yes, it is a weighty tome, coming in at over 800 pages, but this re-imagining of the fall of the Roman Empire with its pervasive, destructive religion, decadence and decay at the heart of society is a fantastic effort by a writer who deserves to become well-known.
There's a little magic, a hint of dragons, intellects at play and the stubbornness of all great fantasy characters, here embodied by Grigor to a large extent. I know this is officially book 3 of a series, but these are stand-alone stories (though this one is shortly to have a part 2!) and Aderyn Wood needs to be on your TBR list if you love fantasy.