Summers at Castle Auburn

ISBN: 0-441-00928-X Order from: Amazon.com

A generic medieval setting serves as a solid background to an enjoyable romance with a likable narrator, plenty of intrigue and a modicum of magic.

Reviewed by David on March 02, 2003

Genre: Fantasy (Romance, Intrigue, Coming of Age)

Synopsis: Corie Halsing has grown up with two lives. She is an illegitimate child of a long-dead nobleman, and lives in a village as an apprentice to her gruff herbalist grandmother. But surprisingly, her noble uncle and older step-sister treat her as family, and she gets to spend her summers in the distant and very imposing Castle Auburn. Somewhere between scorn from some, like her father's widow Lady Greta, affection of her step-sister the beauriful Elisandra, and acceptance of the powerful Regent Matthew,

Corie finds summers a pleasant, sometimes exotic experience as a minor but acceptable noblewoman. Along with half of the other noble daughters, she sighs over the handsome but willful Price Bryan, and seeks the glimpses of the elusive and magical Aliora led by her uncle Lor Jaxon.

However, as she becomes older, her pleasant summer interludes show their less pleasant aspect. Corie sees unhappiness and cruelty, greed and calculation in what looked like fairy-tale existence. Corie's simple but satisfying life as a village herbalist begin to seem much more attractive. However, Lady Coriel may not be able to leave Castle Auburn behind.

Full Review: The setting of this romance is generic medieval, and the magic modest and conventional. However, the main charm is the first-person narrator, Corie, who starts off naive but intelligent, and slowly becomes more perceptive. Corie's observations are excellent at describing the relationships among the inhabitants of the castle, and the warmth of the narrative compensates for the dearth of originality.

This is a very enjoyable and straightforward romance, combining elements of regency convention with the magic and freedom of an imagined world. Corie and her handful of friends are sympathetic, and the ending leaves one satified, if not deeply challenged.

Overall: 6.5; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6; World-building: 6; Originality: 5.5;

ISBN: 0-441-00928-X Order from: Amazon.com