I did not think i'd be as engrossed in this first look as I ended up being. I thought I would be extremely lost, having not read any of the prior three, but the writing, the setting of the scene, and the character development was excellent. The formatting of the page is slightly unnecessary, but I do think that it lends to the ambience of the time period that the novel takes place in.
I was particularly impressed by the choice of vocabulary in this short first look that I got, and I am sure that it is a consistent throughout. I must commend the author on his/her ability to hook you into wanting to know who is whose side, and who may be a false ally. I also like that each chapter seems to take place through the eyes of another character, thereby giving us an early glimpse on everyone that will have a role to play in this book. I am excited to read more and will check out the books before this one!