I have also waited for this book for a very long time. It did not disappoint me, although I found it quite slow going at first. There is not a huge amount of 'on-stage' action, but the book builds a very complete picture of the surroundings in which Alaric enters the world, and sets the scene well for the sequels.
I had the paperback edition, and was amused to note that the very first 'blurb' comment on the back of the paperback places the story in the overall timeline of Kurtz's world - and gets it completely wrong, stating that it harks back to early times before the persecution of Deryni. When I first read that comment, I wondered whether I had got the wrong book, but I was glad to discover that it was the blurb writer who was mistaken.
I am now waiting eagerly (and, I hope, not as long) for the second and third books in this trilogy; and I confess that I do hope that Kurtz will find it in her to continue to fill out this world further, even after this trilogy. There is still so much potential in this storyline.