Shiang

Hmmmmmmmm..............when you usually start something with that first hmmmmm, either you were so baffled by what you read or......the thing is, I am at the or side.......Darien was a straightforward book, a Roman like setting with real magic, peppered with some eastern flavor(I was guessing a sort of East meets West will be written in the near future, well, here it is), it had all the roman culture that we love to read about(assassinations, politics[eww], LEGIONS[somehow no matter how many times writers have spun this unit, it is considered the best military unit EVER{!!!!}], I love the story, the people introduced(you still killed him....WHY?????), so naturally I was looking forward to the continuation of Tellius and the twelve families, Tellius back story, the ahhhh magic system or artifacts that was introduced...........

Shiang came in fast, lightning fast, east has finally been revealed and the dreaded(!!!????) mazer techniques is slowly being introduce, the culture of the east too, uhhhhh this is where I got hit Mary Shelley's Frankestein...........oh wait no........it looks like the lab of Dr. Frankenstein, the same set up, the same techniques, but magic is the key component ,ok ..ok still holding on.....love this sort of twists and turns, and uhhhhhh soul exchange..........then the story took hold and we are introduced to three exchanged souls riding in new bodies with supernatural abilities, and..............wow.......I think I got lost in Shiang and never got back(I seem to think, I was one of those who got their souls exchanged, just got back when........)

Story wise, still excellent although the shift from POV's might offend some readers, the abilities this time were a bit forced(????, superhuman strength, speed and later on........)
Still......it was nice to read about the Shiang Emperors, some of the inhabitants, a sword saint(ummmmm sword saints hahahhaha), Tellius, our beloved golem king, and finally some of the 12 families are slowly being revealed(Bracken, De Guise, Regis, Canis)......

Mr. Iggulden your approach to storytelling is so refreshing, I hardly have a dull moment(cough, cough, Tolkien, King), descriptions are neat, straight to the point and sometimes funny........

Well almost done with this trilogy, one question though, what is the relevance of salt in your narrative?????(Badump........romans lend me your corns..........)