I am very much in agreement with almost everyone here. I loved it, it is going on my "Best Of" list, and particularly liked how it poked at the fantasy tropes.
I was reminded all the way through of a book I read in the last few years, which I enjoyed as much as this story, simply because it poked hard at fantasy tropes. But I can't remember the title or author!! Can anyone help?
It had a little aside concerning a fledgling evil overlord who, upon conquering a kingdom's castle, ordered all the heirs killed. He was told that some heirs escaped. About 17 of them. 17 potential points of revolt. It seems that the previous queen was quite prolific with the babies, and when the castle was invaded, there were washerwomen with babies slipping out secret passages everywhere. What's a poor over worked evil overlord to do?
The main evil overlord had this massive castle with traps for the inevitable invading barbarians. they would climb onto the roof and see this sign which read something like, "Secret Entrance", next to a ladder. The Barbarians would generally climb down the ladder into an ambush.
At the last scene in the book, just as the boy and girl kiss, the great fortress explodes. One of them remarks to the other, "See? I told you that always happens."
I can't remember the title of this book for anything, though I'm certain I have it floating around the house somewhere....