Lamentation by Ken Scholes

This book constitutes a very promising start to a new fantasy series. In it, a number of characters deal with the complete and utter devastation of Windwir, formerly repository of knowledge of the Androfrancine monks and center to the Named Lands. Although the learning curve for figuring out who was who and what was what was a bit steep for me, I found this book really enjoyable. I also liked the suggestion by the end that all is not as it seems. I'm going to be reading the sequel soon, and the final three books in the series as they come out (the third is due out later this year).