Shaman's Crossing — Robin Hobb

Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly appointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King's Cavella Academy -- and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates--before joining the King of Gernia's brutal campaign of territorial expansion. The life chosen for him will be fraught with hardship, for he must ultimately faces forest-dwelling folk who will not submit easily to a king's tyranny. And they possess an ancient magic their would-be conquerors have long discounted--a powerful sorcery that threatens to claim Nevare Burvelle's soul and devastate his world once the Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares.