well it was certainly epic
the plot and characters were all immensely interesting and although it was 800+ pages the story was a page turner. it split between 4 characters to tell the story: tane (an orphan dragon rider from the east), ead (a trained assassin mage who is a placed spy mean to protect the queen of the western court), loth (the best friend of the queen in the western court), and nikalys (an old man alchemist who was banished from the western court to live out his days in the east). the story hosted a plethora of diversity in sexuality and race without making it a big deal.
i do wish there was more description. because there was so many characters and such a large world it was hard to keep track of places and people because there was very few physical or visual traits described for them. there was also often fantasy lingo specific to this world that made it a bit difficult to understand in the beginning however this world is so vast and rich and is eventually fleshed out by the end if you just push through and keep reading.
i wish there were more chapters for tane she was so interesting but had few chapters, which i admit however made sense for the plot
it has pirates dragons sorceresses knights and battles what more could one want in an epic
very refreshing to read a story that is matriarchy centered. this story was about strong women kicking ass and living their best lives and it brought up several points that made me consider my views such as knighthood, commonly associated with men, was equally represented as female in this story. there was also a very cute take on the marriage ceremony in this.