The beginning of the book left off at the end of book 3. But I never got past the 4th chapter as it went back into the past and lingered there and was uninteresting to me. This series started out so good and I could not wait until the next book. But with all the strange languages and customs I just could not get back into the book as it was not an interesting story line. I bought this book brand new so I hope the next person who gets this book will get some use out of it. I for one am finished with the Demon Cycle.