Tal has lived his whole life in darkness. He has never left his home, a mysterious castle of seven towers. He does not see the threat that will tear apart his family and his world.

But Tal cannot stay safe forever. When danger strikes, he must desperately climb the Red Tower to steal a Sunstone. He reaches the top…

…and then he falls into a strange and unknown world of warriors, iceships, and hidden magic. There Tal makes an enemy who will save his life—and holds the key to his future. (bn.com)

I.  Am.  So.  Lost.  I’ve never read a book and come out this disoriented before.  Holy crap.  Right from the beginning you’re shoved into this world with weird names being thrown at you, many without any kind of explanation so you’re left to try and figure out just what this something’s supposed to look like but you have no idea because it could rightly be anything.  That . . . was a huge turn off for me.  Immediately I’m supposed to know what all of this stuff is, what’s going in, why it’s so important to get into Aenir.  And I don’t.  I’m just told that’s how it is.  Therein lies the major flaw.

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