Lord of the Changing Winds

This book needed tighter editing. The author over-used 'inhuman'/'not a like a human' to the point that it was comical. I would have appreciated some more solid examples of how the griffins' behavior was inhuman rather than just being told constantly that their thoughts were not human thoughts. Other problems that should have been solved in editing were the military strategies and just making sure everything was internally consistent. At the very beginning of the book the author has the main character gathering and using a bunch of herbs that are well-known in North America (probably Europe too), but then all the characters have completely made-up fantasy names. The griffin names are sooooo loooong and they all have three each. Why not give the herbs weird names to cement the fantasy setting, and make the griffin names shorter so I actually have a chance at remembering them?

The feel of the book was Cozy Fantasy (all the townspeople are nice, everyone who gets taken prisoner is treated with respect by all sides) but I didn't find the main character either interesting or likable. I was frustrated by her behavior 95% of the time. Can't say much more about it without spoilers. There was another scene where someone commits a vicious premeditated crime and it's kind of hand-waved off as "oh he's just young and hot-headed." It was as if the author was really committed to the "cozy fantasy" feel of things, and wouldn't let the crime be taken seriously because it would ruin the atmosphere. Overall, I felt removed from the characters most of the time, as if I was watching a very formal play, not living in their world with them.

That said, the author had some beautiful descriptive language, and she's gotten a lot better since this book was published! I enjoyed her book Tuyo, which she wrote 10 years later and set in a different world.