This review is for the whole trilogy.

I decided to read The Whitefire Crossing attracted by a couple of good reviews I had seen from trusted sources and the fact that mountain climbing paid an important role. High mountain passes and epic fantasy do not usually go together, but I love both of them.

I read the whole trilogy one after the other, and it was a really enjoyable experience. This story pressed all the right buttons for me. It is something between Epic Fantasy and Swords & Sorcery (only, with no swords and a lot of sorcery). Instead of swords, we get intrigue and spying. Oh, and did I mention, a lot of magic?

The story is told from the point of view of two characters: Dev, whose chapters are narrated in first person, works as a guide for caravans wishing to cross the rugged Whitefire Mountains. He is also a former tainted child (tainted children have several psychic powers that they lose at puberty) and has a passion for mountain climbing. After a betrayal by his partner, he desperately needs money to make good on a promise he made long ago. Kiran, whose chapters are narrated in third person, is on the run and hires Dev to smuggle him across the mountains and through the spell-protected border of the neighboring country of Alathia. He is willing to pay a lot. What could possibly go wrong?

From then on, the trilogy is a wild ride with very good pacing. There is hardly a moment of respite. The heroes are always in extreme danger, hunted by incredibly powerful and ruthless enemies. Schafer may not be a great stylist, but she is an excellent storyteller and she creates memorable characters: compelling, passionate and with interesting internal conflicts. Also central to the trilogy is one of my favorite bromances ever.

I read the three books one after the other and enjoyed all of them thoroughly. When the story was over, it left me with that satisfied but wistful sensation you get when you finish a long and excellent story, and you know you are going to miss these characters. I recommend this trilogy unreservedly. ( )

I won a copy of this book through the r/Fantasy bingo, but I swear it had been on my list of to-reads for several years! Through no planning of my own, this fit right in my recent spate of mountain climbing books, so even though I don't climb I still felt like I could understand some of the rationale in Dev's choices. That was really cool!

Anyway, for the rest of the book. I don't have any major complaints, so I guess it can be four stars? I didn't understand some of the stylistic choices (like why Kiran is narrated in third person limited while Dev is through first person), there was sometimes a bit too much overexplanation of the tell-not-show variety, and there was a kind of annoying tendency for many problems to be fixable just by Climbing. I also wasn't huge on the romance developing at the end of the book, but whatever.

But luckily, the mage did have magic things to do. The characters' idiocies were well-enough explained by their flaws/backstories. When it was just Dev and Kiran together, the story went a lot better. I'll probably put the next book on my TBR list. ( )

A fantasy story about two travelers in a caravan group moving across the mountains from one city to the next. The exciting part of the story is there is a mystery on why they are making this urgent journey. The story has two protagonists that the narrative goes back and forth. One character is written in 1st person and the other is in 3rd person. The characters are always together though, so the different perspectives give little benefit, and it took me a little while to get used to the different narrative style. The first part of the book is a bit slow, but once the mystery starts to get fleshed out it becomes more interesting. Overall it is a very decent book and I'm hopeful of how the series develops. ( )

To be honest I would rate this book at somewhere between 3.5-3.75.

The first 30% or so of the book is slow and frankly rather irritating. The story picks up fast after that and the author shows her skill at good storytelling by dripfeeding information. Some of the reveals were predictable while others were not. The conclusion however is unsatisfactory as it leans heavily towards the sequels and does not present a complete ending. ( )

In a pretty standard medievalish world, a young man named Dev is an outrider, an expert in mountaineering who helps caravans cross from one country to another through dangerous passes. He has a side business of smuggling, and his partner/lover has just abandoned him and taken his money.

Dev gets the opportunity to smuggle a person on an upcoming trip. He isn't told, and we don't find out till later, that the person is a mage. Various fireworks ensue, as this young mage is highly sought by a recipient as well as by the master from whom he is escaping.

Dev is an accomplished rock climber, and passages concerning this activity are some of the best in the book. In general, there was too much worrying being done by both main characters, as they tried to decide what to do about trusting one another. Additional menaces were provided and were pretty well done.

Overall, the characters were somewhat well developed, but I found the writing and dialog quite clunky at times. This book is the first of a series, and its ending sets up a sequel nicely, so we can hope for better writing in the subsequent volumes. ( )