Somehow I missed this wonderful YA fantasy when it came out in 1996. It won a Newberry Award! Really nice world-building, some snappy dialogue, a few great vocabulary words, and a very likable but unreliable narrator. The first part is just the group traveling to the action, but I didn't feel it was slow. Gen's snarky attitude made me wonder just how old he is and I thought the stories that were told would come into play later on. As for the rest of the group, the Magus is pretty much the only standout - I felt the two young men and Pol the soldier don't have much behind them. If I were a YA reading this, I'd probably have been delightedly shocked by the twist at the end, but as a well-read adult I figured I knew what was coming - it's practically telegraphed there in the book description. All in all, a very enjoyable and very quick read, and I will definitely be looking for the others in the series.
