“John M. Ford is the best writer in America, bar none.” —Robert Jordan

“Brilliant is as brilliant does….Whether human, minor Elf nobility (the Ellyon), or Highborn Urthas Elves, Ford’s generous cast of characters continually surprises, intrigues, and pulses with life, a tribute to his power as a storyteller. Haunting, puzzling, even unsettling and deliberately obscure, this improvisatory jazzlike riff of good and evil in the context of a most unusual growing-up story is as bittersweet as first love and loss, a minor-key elegy for death of youth and innocence.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Ford’s evocation of this transformed Chicago has a magic all its own….Beyond the life-or-death tests and the mind-bending puzzles, this is fundamentally a love story, with a deeply satisfying climax (in every sense of the word).” —The New York Times

“Rasping, succinct, tantalizing, and psychologically complex, as well as powerfully visual…Superb.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)