From the front flap: Fawn Bluefield, the clever young farmer girl, and Dag Redwing Hickory, the seasoned Lakewalker soldier-sorcerer, have been married all of two hours when they depart her family's farm for Dag's home at Hickory Lake Camp. Alas, their unlikely marriage is met with prejudice and suspicion, setting many in the camp against them. A faction of the camp even goes … [Read more...] about The Sharing Knife: Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold: B+
Romance
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: B
From the back cover: From its sharply satiric opening sentence, Mansfield Park deals with money and marriage, and how strongly they affect each other. Shy, fragile Fanny Price is the consummate "poor relation." Sent to live with her wealthy uncle Thomas, she clashes with his spoiled, selfish daughters and falls in love with his son. Their lives are further complicated by the … [Read more...] about Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: B
The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold: B
From the front flap: Young Fawn Bluefield has fled her family's farm hoping to find work in the city of Glassforge. Uncertain about her future and the troubles she carries, Fawn stops for a drink of water at a roadside inn, where she counters a patrol of Lakewalkers, enigmatic soldier-sorcerers from the woodland culture to the north. Though Fawn has heard stories about the … [Read more...] about The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold: B
Emma by Jane Austen: A
From the back cover: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable house and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." With this opening sentence, a reader might seem quite justified in thinking Jane Austen to have painted herself into … [Read more...] about Emma by Jane Austen: A
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: A+
From the back cover: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Thus memorably begins Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of the world's most popular novels. From the initial friction between the opinionated Elizabeth Bennet and the arrogant, wealthy Mr. Darcy, this witty comedy of manners dips and … [Read more...] about Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: A+