I typically don't enjoy reading historical fiction, but I found this book to be very intriguing by the first look. I've avoided most historical fiction books because they can drag on and quickly become boring by an overload of factual information, but The Heretic's Mark did the complete opposite. I found it easy to read along to, well pace, and centered around an interesting story that just happened to fall under historical fiction rather than becoming all about history. I have not read any of the other books in this series so I am unable to make comparisons if this book holds up to previous works done by S. W. Perry, but based just on what I have read of this book I would highly recommend it and even go and buy this book. From a personal stance I think the world and character building was done excellently in a way that would not bore return readers, but also informs readers like me who have no previous knowledge of the book's content. Overall I found it to be a well written book that I would definitely read!