I've been bored having finished Mistborn and waiting for The Gathering Storm so I went to the local bookstore and saw something that caught my eye. Read the jacket text, and it seemed interesting enough so I purchased Across the Face of the World.
When I get home, I look the book over and notice a blurb about Tolkien fans could rejoice, my immediate fear was oh no not another Lord of the Rings rip off. Still, I gave the book a chance.
No ifs, ands, or buts about it, the book starts SLOW, and is very heavy into the detail. So heavy it might turn off the casual reader. Enough happens though, that I kept going, combined with the fact I had nothing else to do.

When we get to the point where certain events happen to the protagonists, the story sets its hooks in unexpectedly, and it is a ride through a richly detailed world. I learned after reading that Mr. Kirkpatrick is a proffesional cartographer, and applies his skills to the fantasy genre very well.

The journey, is extremely interesting, with plenty of twists, to keep you going, if you can survive the beginning. There is plenty of action, and plenty of suspense as well. Surprisingly as the book reached halfway it became a real page turner. Unexpectedly to me. I was starting to get afraid of a slow read.

Yet, as for my fears of a Tolkien rip off, they were for the most part unfounded. The dialogue, and emotions of characters are too Tolkienesque for my tastes, but all in all I feel Mr. Kirkpatrick did a pretty good job in Tolkien's style and making it his own. There are obvious nods to Tolkien, but just that nods. He creates his own world and characters, very unique for the most part. The farm boy motif, was there, but he takes it and does it well.

As for dislikes. The book started too slowly for me, and was too wordy. I found myself skimming a few places in the beginning. Yet, the book's pace picks up as it goes on. Quite a few readers may be turned off by this.
PoV sections, were horrendous and kept switching from character to character. It was an annoyance, and one I can hope he corrects.
Dialogue, could have been better, but...that's my opinion.
As for going onto the next book in the series...I think I might invest some more to see where Mr. Kirkpatrick is going with his trilogy, but not before I finish rereading Knife of Dreams and read The Gathering Storm.

To summarize: If your a casual/light reader this book may not be for you. Some veteran readers may find it a little drawn out, but in its way if you can wade through the drawn out beginning things move quicker. Much quicker, as the story progresses.