This is an awesome book, but I was intimidated by its length. Although it's quite the doorstop, it's also a sprawling fantasy epic that encompasses multiple storylines and races - human, troll, merpeople, cyclops, vampire, etc. I don't read much high fantasy, but I've been meaning to get into it. I read it because it's by Peter David, who I've been meaning to read more of ever since Tigerheart.

But this story's great because it always keeps you going, and all the storylines are set evenly, with interesting climaxes and developments. There are twelve worlds, each with its own race and society, and each has their own storyline. But it's not too hard to keep the characters straight, or remember who's where. The world is complex, but the plot is not. Everything's set up like a domino pattern. The story is where you watch the dominoes fall. It's fast paced. It's fun. And it's worth it. ( )

It is a well worn path the author is on, humanity taken over by more powerful aliens, only these aliens are mythological creatures, maybe. Are they the creatures who were here before and overcome that became myth or are they actual aliens?

A fairly well trodden path of a story and didn't really stand out in my mind as being anything special ( )

Read this a few months ago and didn't bother to finish it. All I remember about it is that all the characters, humans and others, were unbelievably stupid and rather boring. ( )

A classic view in sf is that the only things humans have going for themselves are their creativity, cruelty and luck. Everything else is against them. Here, what they have against them are banished creatures from mythology (who'd arrived before in small groups, creating such mythology). Fauns and dragons and cyclops, similar to tales but different than the myth of ages have painted them. Humans have nearly been wiped out, but those dubious qualities, listed above, are still in place.This is one of those books that follows several different groups, everyone with their own quirks and personal vendettas that are just this side of blatant. Internecine war is constant, and there are other problems—stemming from the near-extermination of those soft and stupid humans.Almost interesting enough to continue reading the series, but not interesting enough for me to hunt down more of the books. ( )