Wow. This is what Sorcerer to the Crown wanted to be and failed. It's got several odd juxtapositions - Regency-type manners, a very interesting magic system, and a solidly Christian structure for several (not all) of the cultures dealt with. We have a young, powerful, but somewhat outsider and isolated magician trying to deal with something that will literally not only kill him but damn his soul to hell; a young, powerful but not in culturally acceptable ways, and also somewhat isolated young woman who wants to help him (when she finally figures out what's going on, which takes a large chunk of the book). Also the magician's focus (not familiar - though it seems rather obvious to me why Kildare hasn't taken Madden as his familiar, Madden doesn't seem to figure it out), an intelligent being in the shape of a large hare. History plays a major part in the story - who's trusted and why, old quarrels and their aftermath(s). So does culture clash; Isles humans, humans from other places (our hero is half-Dumachan; Dumachans are blue, Isles people are peachy-pink, he's grey (as many mixed-bloods are)), goblins from at least two areas with different cultures and languages, ogres, and dragons - or at least the memory of dragons, and some records of interactions with them. Old friendships and enmities, reconciliation, and the final solution - which has a heavy charge of Christian symbolism and viewpoint. I should have expected that from the Christian symbolism earlier, but the final answer surprised me. And while the immediate crisis is solved - and even the immediate crisis stemming from that solution - there's a lot more to the story. I'm looking forward to reading the next book. ( )