Back Cover:
"Really wonderful...I shall read and reread this one." - Marion Zimmer Bradley author of The Mists of Avalon
"What a splendid, unusual and intriguing fantasy quest! You've got a winner here..." - Anne McCaffrey
"An imaginative and charming book. People who think they hate fantasies are going to like this one." - USA Today
"A rare treat for fantasy lovers." - Library Journal
"A magical high fantasy, with a plot that will keep the reader entranced until the conclusion." - Xignals
List of Characters:
The Dragon - victim of a thief, he starts to waste away, never hoping to meet his dragon kin. That is, until some unlikely travelers come along; he is blue though he shouldn't be.
The Unicorn "Snowy" - his love for a prince causes the loss of his horn, then forces him to make a terrible decision.
Mistress - a mean old witch trying to have a child at an unlikely age.
Connor "Conn" Cieran O'Connell of Hirland - the knight who refused the Mistress and was set down with a curse. Looking for the way to un-rust his armor and fix his father's sword.
Thing - a young something enslaved by the witch and protector of the other "slaves"; she wears a mask. Has a certain secret.
Corby - a sarcastic crow; also a slave.
Moglet - a frightened kitten; also a slave.
Pisky - a carp that remembers everything; also a slave.
Puddy - a slow going, yet intellectual, toad; also a slave.
The Ancient - an old wizard who helps the unlikely ones. But what is he really doing....and why does he remind me of Tom Trundleweed?
Tom Trundleweed - an old man outside the town of the Mistress; he teaches Thing about mushrooms.
Kiya - a bird of prey that follows the unlikely ones on their journey, keeping an eye out for them.
An assortment of monks, animals, friends, and foes.
Favorite Character:
That's really a tough one to decide! I like the dragon, Thing, and all the little animals. Oh! And also Kiya. The Ancient was cool...he had a paper crown. So it's really hard to decide. They were all such well made characters. The best part of it was that you had some twinges of irony at the end concerning each one of them.
Least Favorite Character:
Okay, the person I really disliked was someone I put under the "assortment of foes." That was Lady Adiora. *shudders* I just didn't like her. She's everything that I strive not to be.
Favorite Quote:
"You'd like him even less if you'd had a great ruddy rock up your arse." - Corby the Crow
Favorite Part of the Book:
There are two parts I'd have to say were favorites. First was was Thing was arguing with the Ancient upon returning from their journey. The second was The Loosening. I won't spoil it, but, it was so sad! I wanted to cry in every chapter.
Comments:
In my opinion, Mary Brown is a wonderful writer of the fantasy quest. I've only read two of her books, but I know that the others will be equally as good. For those who read her other book, Dragonne's Eg, just know that there's a little treat in there...a run over, if you will, from this one. In fact, several aspects of this book can be found in a similar sort of pattern in Dragonne's Eg. But I won't give it away. This book was emotional and interesting, letting you know some things but holding onto other things very tightly. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Review by: Pontifax
Back Cover:
"Really wonderful...I shall read and reread this one." - Marion Zimmer Bradley author of The Mists of Avalon
"What a splendid, unusual and intriguing fantasy quest! You've got a winner here..." - Anne McCaffrey
"An imaginative and charming book. People who think they hate fantasies are going to like this one." - USA Today
"A rare treat for fantasy lovers." - Library Journal
"A magical high fantasy, with a plot that will keep the reader entranced until the conclusion." - Xignals
List of Characters:
Thing - A young lady frozen in time by a witch's spell; wears a mask because she was told she was hideous; has a hunched back because she can't stand straight from the magical gem in her belly; has been slave of the witch as long as she can remember; is actually very beautiful.
Pisky - another slave to one of the witch's gems; a king carp who talks a lot and always talks about his ancestors; jumps in the water to help Thing wake up from the spell that would drown her.
Puddy - another slave to one of the witch's gems; a toad who is often philosophical and complains of constant headaches; breaks Thing's terror and tells her to burn the evil trees.
Moglet - another slave to one of the witch's gems; a kitty who has a hurt foot and possesses little courage; helps Thing thrown rocks into the gigantic Spider's web.
Corby - another slave to the witch's gems; a loud and vulgar-mouthed crow who has lost the power of flight; organizes the flock of gulls to drop a huge boulder on the Great White Worm.
Conn - an Irish knight who has fallen prey to the witch's curse; must journey with Thing and her animals to try and mend his broken sword and rusted armor; is in love with Thing (only later).
'Snowy' - a unicorn who also finds himself traveling with Thing and her party to try and recover his lost horn; help Thing and Co. free a massive amounts of animals 'lamb to the slaughter'.
The Ancient - a smart aleck wizard who seems to have mastered the arts of time and space. Speaks in riddles (surprise surprise); helps Thing and her group find the dragon.
The Dragon - a dying dragon who doesn't like to be disturbed; he is dying because the witch stole his five gems from them to enslave Thing and her animal friends.
The Witch - the woman who enslaved Thing and her friends by use of the Dragon's stolen gems; makes Thing think she is ugly when she is actually a beautiful woman; gets blown to pieces by Thing's magic.
Favorite Character:
That's gonna be either Corby because he yells a lot of funny stuff whenever he feels like it, and he complains a lot, or the Dragon because, even though he is in the book for only a short time, he is so cynical (but in a different way than Corby) that it's downright hilarious.
Least Favorite Character:
Thing. Main character, naïve little girl, nuff said. She's just not very interesting and is strangely reminiscent of the main girl of Dragonne's Eg
Favorite Quote:
"You'd like him even less if you had a ruddy great rock up your arse!" -Corby after the swineherd throws a rock at him to shoo him off. I had to go with Emma on this one.
Favorite Part of the Book:
The middle of the book when the chapters are called: THE BINDING: SO AND SO. These are the chapters when each of the animals as well as Thing, Conn, and Snowy all have situations in which they are the only ones who can save the entire party or get them past an obstacle. It's really cool how each individual gets a chance to shine.
Comments:
I liked this book. (What a comment to start off with, eh?) It's about a hunchbacked girl who believes she's hideous creature and her animal friends as they search for some relief from the 'pebbles' (actually Dragon's gems) that are buried in various parts of their bodies. I love it when each character gets their own chance to prove useful. It's a bit slow at parts as Mary Brown describes the massive amounts of scenery the party has to travel past, but it speeds up immediately when they reach a challenge. All in all, I think there is a fair balance of slow and fast…but one thing that weighs heavily on my judgement of this book is the fact that it is VERY similar to the other book of Brown's I have read, Dragonne's Eg. There is a female hero, there is a dragon, there is a unicorn, there is an Irish sidekick, the heroine has the ability to speak to animals,etc. This isn't necessarily bad, but I would like to see her write with a bit of variation.
Rating: 7 out of 10 Stars.
ISBN: 0671578448
Edition: M.M.Paperback
