Excellent read if you want something that starts out with a more typical fantasy hero's journey setup and then morphs into a commentary on humanity.

Without spoiling anything, the way Tanya Huff sets up the ultimate individual villain of the book is quite a journey on its own. They never come across as...kind, even in the beginning, but their character is well established by the end.

Then, through flashbacks, you get several characters' earlier version of the journey (and personal development) as a complement to points in the new journey. The flashbacks are clearly set apart from the main action of the book through both chapter labeling and formatting (hardcover version) and play out in each timeline's chronological order, so I was never confused about what was happening when.

And this is on top of the main harrowing journey through a land of magical chaos.