I remember really enjoying this book and the series it belongs to once upon a time. I couldn't even make it past the first chapter this time around though. The prose was painful and the frequency with which Tiger swore with the phrase "Hoolies!" grated on my nerves after only three pages. I remember the word being over used, but I did not remember it being three or four times a page like it was here. I had the next book Sword-Beaker sitting in the wings for after I finished this, but now they are both heading straight back to the used bookstore. I do not mind reading mediocre fantasy novels. Sometimes that is just what a body needs. This, however, was simply torture to plow through.