An engrossing fantasy, the first in a series. Smith is best known for her YA novels, but this is written for adults, despite featuring a young protagonist.

Inda is a second son, destined to be his older brother's "shield arm," in charge of home defense. War games among the children occupy much of his time. To his amazement and delight, the king breaks with tradition and summons second sons to the kingdom's military academy. At age 10, Inda joins the other "scrubs" in learning the art of command. But there are intrigues are work, and Inda finds unexpected enemies. He will face challenges he never dreamed of, in places he never dreamed existed.

This starts off as a fairly straightforward medievaloid fantasy, although the society depicted has some unusual twists. But halfway through, it takes a sharp turn and becomes something much more interesting and original. Highly recommended. ( )

I enjoyed Inda immensely, and will be buying the sequels (and perhaps sneaking them into the to-read heap at higher than the 'just arrived' slot).

Someone asked me what I was reading, and (part-way through) I replied 'it's a world with magic in it, and Our Hero is a schoolboy for whom it's not all running smoothly'. 'Like Harry Potter?' "Oh no,' I replied 'not Harry Potter. This is _seriously good_'.

Smith has created a coherent, chaotic (and thus lifelike) world, populated with diverse peoples. It is easier to provide a critism of what doesn't work so well .... there are many, many characters, and because they have many names each, and many important relationships (an individual is daughter, sister, betrothed, etc.), it is hard work keeping track of them all. Perhaps there are no family trees/trees of obligation and betrothal because it is too difficult to present them 2-dimensionally. There were a couple of words I needed to look up in the glossary, which weren't there. ( )

LOVED THIS BOOK. Slurped it up in record time, too. Characters are extremely well drawn, the plot moves right along, and the world is fabulous. Good stuff. ( )

Inda is the second son of a prince. When old traditions are thrown aside, Inda and other second sons are eligible to attend the King's military academy. What the impetuous ten-year-old boy deems an honor is really something more insidious within the political tangles of the royal family. He immediately befriends the second son of the king, nicknamed Sponge, and discovers all is not what it seems. Sponge is loathed by his older brother, the heir, and anyone close to him will suffer for it. Even worse, Inda shows a natural flair for command. That is not in the interests if the future king, and must be remedied.

Don't be fooled by the ages of the characters - this is no young adult or middle grade book. Inda is over 600-pages, and I'll admit, the first hundred or so were a struggle. There is a large cast of characters, and they all have multiple names in different languages. It was quite confusing for me. Once I got sucked into the book, it went very fast. Inda is a very likeable yet flawed character, as are the other main characters such as Jorel, Tdor, Sponge and Tanrid. The action is very well written, including many battles at sea that must have involved intense research. I'll be adding the sequel to my wish list. I really want to see some justice delivered. ( )

A wonderful coming of age story about boyhood and friendship and where it leads us. Inda, the main character, is a completely honest and guileless person in a world that teems with politics and intrigue.

I quite enjoyed the meeting between him and the King's reclusive second son, particularly as the two boys along with a handful of others develop friendships that sustains them through world changing events. The loyalties that binds the boys carries them from adolescent well into adulthood and makes for an entirely satisfying read. ( )