I enjoyed it. The way the author layered the flashbacks to the events of one evening 5 years previous to the present day of the story really served the narrative well as I felt like it allowed me to be both surprised by revelations and suitably attached to the characters to appreciate how those reveals impacted them as well as the story. At the same time I think it gave the book a similar quality to Memento or the best episodes of LOST where you want to revisit the story to see how interconnected it is and pick up on details you may have missed. I liked how deeply flawed all of the characters were, even though it made them unlikable at times while reading (particularly Regel Frostburn, the titular Shadow of the Winter King. About midway through the book his decisions and internal motivations had totally lost my sympathy although he earned it back by the story's conclusion. Also the World of Ruin, as a post apocalyptic fantasy world, is awesome as a setting and if I still had a regular D&D group I would hijack it for our next campaign.