It's probably important to remember that Arrows of the Queen was her first book. Yes, it had flaws, but whose first book doesn't?

seperis, I must jump on the bandwagon here and say, read The Last Herald-Mage series! READ THEM! READ THEM! Yes, there's a lot of depressing stuff in them, but . . . well, let me point out, I am the Queen She-Who-Demands-A-Happy-Ending! And I have re-read these books!