I really enjoyed this book. I had a lot of people telling me they had heard bad things about it so I admit that I did feel a little nervous at first. But for me the story moved smoothly and the plot was excellent. There were some more graphic and violent scenes that probably turned off the readers who didn't like the book, but to me it didn't outweigh the good writing. It's hard to review a translated book and say that the writer is excellent, but I assume that the translator stayed true to form. If not, the translator needs to start writing books! Let's put it this way...I had planned on reading a specific book after I finished this one. Instead, I am now reading the second book in the trilogy.