The first few pages shocked me like a first taste of strong drink. I could hardly comprehend what I was reading. But once I was drunk on the book it got much better and I can't put it down. If you care to use your brain and wade through the language, it will start to make sense. This is not watching a TV show; this is READING! It demands your concentration and your imagination.

This is an absolute masterpiece. The story is not especially powerful if examined in summary form; but the grandiose narrative never slips, and the dense, archaic prose (which, by the way, is etymologically correct) places the story on a pedestal far above other works of fantasy.

For sheer gravity of tone, it surpasses LOTR, though not the Silmarillion. I thought I would never find another book to add to my canon, until I stumbled across this book's Wikipedia entry. Take the plunge, ascend the heights of Koshtra Pivrarcha and look down on Koshtra Belorn. You will be rewarded!