We get a couple of new "story tellers" in this book, however we have heard of or met most of them in the previous books already. The story picks up shortly after the end of book two, with Khirin, Janel and the rest still on their quest to save the world. The story is moving more and more in a philosophical direction, instead of leaning on the good/evil trope. The end goal is the same for most people however how they want to get there is quite different. And following along might start some interesting discussion amongst reader reading this book in a book club or something. I won't deny that parts off the story is dark however as a whole is it not that bad.

If you're interested in reading this series then definitively start at book 1 since this one assumes a fair bit of knowledge about the world before you read it.