I’m finally managing to read some neglected books I’ve had on my shelves for years. Having had so many books either recommended by reading and writing friends, or attracting my attention by different types of promotional material over the years, it’s a pleasure to get to those hardbacks and softbacks that have patiently waited on my shelves at last.

I’ve not read Terry Goodkind before, and confess I don’t know how or when I acquired this short book. But I’m glad I did.

Reading the first few pages, I recognised it quickly as a story of a certain type in the fantasy genre. There is magic involved, the historical period seems to be more or less mediaeval, and the descriptions of people and settings all fit well inside the boundaries of this specific genre. I almost stopped reading upon recognising those facts that almost declared it formulaic.

But something in the story had already grabbed my attention by then. It was the rounded presentation of the protagonist. Abby was clearly a figure out of her depth, scared, yet determined to take on and complete a task that held, apparently, only terror for her. There must be something else going on, some vital drive that prevented her acting on her instinct to run as fast as she could from the scene.

As the story developed, yet more fear enveloped her. She is a child of a rural, unsophisticated settlement and deeply out of her depth in this rough, frantic, overwhelming city to which she has ventured entirely at her own urging. But we then learn she is not a child, but the young mother of a child in mortal danger. It is that child she is naturally driven to rescue regardless of the cost to herself; the native desire of a mother to protect her offspring.

The story grows in complexity and strands of intrigue weave into threads that blur the boundary between truth and falsehood. Startling revelations twist the story around, leaving the reader to wonder who is good, who bad, who victim and who commands events.

Working through a cleverly devised denouement, the final outcome is revealed to be the only one that the reader will find satisfactory.

I shall be looking for more stories from this great storyteller.

[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]