Tarinel's Song by Ron Glick

The world will end with the sounding of Tarinel's Song - or so the prophecy claims. Yet when the prophecy is fulfilled and the world continues on, it becomes clear that there is more to the prophecy than is commonly known. 

The fate of the world rests upon the shoulders of mismatched individuals drawn towards what seems to be the center of the crisis - a city at the heart of an empire, sealed off by magic beyond even the power of the Gods to control. But even if they are able to overthrow an unknown power within the city walls, will they be able to put an end to the chaos this harbinger portends? 

Tarinel's Song is set in the world of Na'Ril, the epic setting for The Godslayer Cycle. This first in a three book series explores how deities have evolved in another part of the world, and sets the foundation for events that will effect the world as a whole. (taken from Amazon description)

If you know anything about Dungeons and Dragons, then you have a lot of the background information necessary for this book. If that's your sort of thing, this is a definite series to pick up.  I had some issues with this first book, but after continuing on to the second, I can see that it's going to end up being a rather epic trilogy.  

In this book, the problem I have is that we have sooooo much background information.  If this is the sort of book you're into, then you already have a working knowledge of most of the information that drowns out the story in the beginning.  To make this a bit less dry for my reading, I simply skipped over a few parts. For example, I already know what a Drow is. Instead of reading it again, I was able to move on and continue with the beginnings of the saga.  

Now, there are a lot of new characters to learn and some of them get a bit confusing.  The world itself is pretty easy to understand.  Of course, it's always difficult when creating a new world with such a large cast of characters.  I think Glick actually did a pretty good job.  By the end of the first book, I had no trouble confusing them anymore and was able to have them set as individual characters in my mind.  Most of them could have used a bit more personality, but over all he did a pretty good job creating them.  They're what you would expect of this sort of journey, but I think a little more work on them could have made them 'pop'.  

If anything I've said here has turned you off, then please take a moment to read my review for Immortal's Discord, the second book, before making up your mind.