ISBN: 0-441-00972-7 Order from: Amazon.com
A tense, fast-moving fantasy with appealing characters, evocative if familiar magic, romance and fighting, burdened by multiple viewpoints.
Reviewed by David on March 02, 2003
Genre: Fantasy (Celtic, Multiple Worlds)
Synopsis: Maureen Pierce has led a difficult life. Emotionally scarred by an early trauma, she hears voices and fears that men are after her. Ironically, her minor in psychology allows her to diagnose her condition. However, is paranoid schizophrenia the right diagnosis when they are really after you? And when the voices in Maureen's head are real?
Difficult as it is to believe, after Maureen meets Brian Albion, she finds that she is not paranoid enough. There are witches that travel between the worlds, and warriors whose wounds heal in seconds. Maureen's problem is that by the time she figures out what's real, and who's on her side, she may be dead—because the witches have smelled her blood—and found it irresistable.
Full Review: The fantasy combines the generic elements of Celtic folklore and parallel worlds in a new and exciting way. The myths serve only a backdrop to very human passion, cruelty and greed, and the characters, both good and evil seem to burn with real emotion. The Summer Country of the title, a pliable, magical world is nearly as magical as one would imagine true Faery to be. The adventures feel grittily real, and distressingly painful, making the hard vectories more precious thereby.
There are some weaknesses in the story as well. There are a number of characters, and the viewpoints shifts between them often, leaving the protagonist, Maureen, less well defined. Her role—a scarred woman who nonetheless contains passion and strength—seems more iconic than real, partly because of the limited time she spends "on the screen".
This is a fast, solid, frequenlty intense novel. Despite the characterization somewhat weakened by view-hopping, it paints a vivid, passionate and magical picture, using a palette of familiar mythology highlighted with fear and courage.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 5.5; Style: 6; World-building: 6; Originality: 5;
Copyright date 2002, Berkley Publishing Group (Ace), October 2002, Trade paperback, 361 pages
ISBN: 0-441-00972-7 Order from: Amazon.com