This book is more of a study of depression than anything else. Although Nevare is very introspective, he's also quite self-absorbed and deliberately cuts himself off from any help/friendship to the point where, although he is not entirely to blame for what happens at the end, you can see how it happens. I understand he's torn between two vastly different worlds, but as a protagonist, he's not very proactive. Nevertheless, the world Hobb has created is an interesting one, where three different cultures vie for domination, and you're not sure who to root for. Her prose is superb and the people act about as real as ones that you meet on the street. It's a pretty good read, but it is long and her Liveship Trader series was much better.