The Blade Itself

I definitely see hints of George r r Martin in this book. The world is vast and sprawling and we know we're only seeing a hint of the whole story. I was compelled to get the next book he second I finished this. I'm also quite entertained by the paralell universe aspect. Angland in the north being the most obvious. It's certainly not Earth but the place names and situations have a nice distant familiarity without being straight parody.