But even for a white eye it seems Isak is special, for when barely sixteen he discovers that he is the chosen heir of one of the most powerful rulers in the land. If that isn't hard enough to deal with for somebody who has been raised as a peasant, it seems one of the Gods has special plans in mind for him. The gifts that the God of Storms brings for him are the armour and sword of a great and powerful king who was the last single ruler of the land. According to prophesy, whoever next dons that armour and bears that sword will be the saviour and destined for greatness.

What the Gods want and what humans want of course can be two entirely different things, and various people have various ideas on just who should be wearing that armour and carrying that sword. Not only humans want to have their say in the matter either. Other races who haven't been seen or heard from in a long time start making their presence felt; vampires have started to be seen again andt even more disturbing is the fact that the elves are massing on the borders.

The former king whose armour Isak has been given, just happened to be an elf, and they want it back. Unlike most other fantasy stories where the elves are founts of wisdom and goodness etc. etc., these guys are nasty, and would like nothing better than to exterminate a few thousand humans. So they and their troll friends take to the battle field in an attempt to win back the armour. Yet bad as these troubles all seem, they are merely the disturbance on the surface of the water, and underneath it all some deep and disturbing troubles lurk that no one can quite fathom or see yet.

As in all first books of a series a lot of time is spent introducing the various characters, and plot lines that we will be following throughout the series. Initially I found it hard to keep track, as there is a wealth of information to be absorbed, and for a while it was a distraction. While as the story progresses Tom Lloyd takes some steps to lesson the confusion, I realized that in order for us to properly understand Isak we needed to share in his confusion at the events going on around him, so he has left us deliberately in the dark.

It's important for the reader to remember that in spite of his formidable power and abilities, Isak is still only a young man, not even twenty by the end of the first book. Unlike the majority of the people he now consorts with he didn't grow up among the elite of the world and has little or no understanding of the forces that are being set in motion by his presence and his wearing the armour of the former king. Seeing the world through Isak's eyes, and not having much more of an understanding of what's going on than he does, helps us realize the enormity of the task that he is facing.