- overall, I liked it; it does not carry the emotional punch of Covenant or the Gap, but is on par with Mordant
- I recall Donaldson said in an interview that when he set out writing a novel he always knew from the start what is the ending he wanted to get to but did not necessarily know how; I would love to know what was the story conclusion he aimed to reach with this one
- It was intriguing to see (perhaps the point of the story?) that in the end there was no single solution that defeated the Great God - Rummage's final decimate that we got a build up to through several chapters was a damp squib in the end (it was very important on his own personal journey of course), and several people had to be at the right time at the right place, and give their utmost best to triumph over TGG
- I don't know if the Christian imagery was a slightly on-the-nose criticism (you know, son of a missionary and all that) or just a convenient shorthand to give the readers some familiar ground they can understand. It was interesting that, although called god, TGG was simply defeated in the end and not at all god-like, just a dude who mastered the decimates (maybe THAT was the point SRD was trying to make)
- there were some rehashed characters/ideas - the brother who is the best fighter in the land, someone who is gifted to understand all languages in the world - but that did not bother me
- indeed a map would be lovely
- all in all it was the story of the Twenty-Year Blue Balls
