I really enjoyed this book, and am hoping the author puts out the next book in the series as soon as possible!It is a very engaging book, the type that you read until 1 in the morning. Then when you ask yourself at that time if you should go to bed, you decide that you should just stay up reading, because it is so exciting that you wouldn't be able to sleep thinking about it anyways!Holden R Johnson does such a good job at creating his own world with his own creatures and races of people. The idea, description, and function of the Essence (his world's magic energy) is a very refreshing idea compared to many other fantasy authors, who adopt extremely common and overused ideals of how magic functions. The idea that the Essence used to be freely available in the world and has been locked away behind a door is highly intriguing, and offers a unique perspective to the idea of magic in general.I am really looking forward to the next book in this series, and I will definitely be watching for any other work from Holden R Johnson!Four stars only because I can't do 4 1/2 stars: I am counting on his next book to be so spectacular that if I were to give this 5 stars I would be wishing Amazon had a 6th star to award the sequel!