ISBN: 0-441-00813-5 Order from: Amazon.com
Light-weight fantasy adventure, with fighting and romance.
Reviewed by David on April 29, 2001
Genre: Fantasy (Magic)
Synopsis: Magic is outlawed in the hilly villages of Aren's country, and its discovery is a deadly danger. So when the young woman starts having clear and disturbing visions, she is concerned about hiding her newly awakened talent. However, a much more urgent danger threatens. A deadly bandit attack shatters the peaceful village and Aren's life, and a magical cataclysm wipes out political stability, cutting off the remote villages and wakening once dormant—and now dangerous—supernatural inhabitants of the land.
Full Review: The novel, whose title is a play on words (from Hobson's choice), describes coping with disaster and adversity, and talks of compromise and hope. Despite the serious theme and events, the novel on the whole is light-hearted and humorous at times, with elements of romantic adventure dominating the tone. While not patricularly deep, and lacking any depth in the portrayal of the major villains (who are, to be fair, are peripheral to the plot), the fantasy provides light, pleasant, and at times witty entertainment.
The rural, somewhat post-apocalyptic setting, and the sympathetic, plucky but fallible heroine call to mind Durgin's Seer's Blood and Colander's Neena Gathering, two other pleasant novels.
Here is an interview with Patricia Briggs—a pretty interesting one.
Copyright: 2001
Overall: 6; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 5.5; Originality: 5;
Berkley Publishing Group (Ace), March 2001, Mass-market, 281 pages
ISBN: 0-441-00813-5 Order from: Amazon.com