Overall, I liked the book. The subject matter is interesting: Magic abilities are stored in tokens or objects which are then given to the owner who can then master them. As the story unravels, it’s fun to see the different types of abilities and how clans learn to work them.
Our perspective is from a man who, at first, just seems to have rare abilities with language.
As these abilities and others are exercised, others can recognize when they are being used. These groups are very territorial and this Sparks conflicts. When I state the hero is a little dense, I refer to his unwillingness to accept these abilities in others and use them to his clans’ advantage. One of his clan has the ability to “resurrect” after death. Our hero has the chance to dispatch this person who is severely injured, allowing him to restore but, instead struggles with the idea of taking his life. It just bothered me that, as the book progressed, our hero was not able to adapt.
I should mention that I requested this book an agreed to review it.