Not your typical fantasy novel: there's no scene-setting and no particular conclusion, and only the barest of overarching plots that has very little effect on the events of the story. Instead, what we get is perhaps the sort of story that happens all the time in the background of other fantasy worlds, driven by the small cast of characters more than anything else. Arnason's style here is extremely sparse; elegant, almost minimalist, and very pleasant to read.
I'm pleased to see that this was an early work of many, and — inevitably — she now has a blog, which should give you some idea of her writing style. I wish she'd written more in this universe, though!
ISBN 0895160285.