As per usual with Tad Williams, he has created a vivid world with rich characters, stories and sub-stories rotating around the central theme. He moves his characters like pieces on a chessboard, placing them seeming of to the side, yet when they come into play, they rock the story, and the reader, to its core. I'm not going to give away any of the story, any of the characters – just buy the entire Shadowmarch series, it's worth it