246 pages
English language
Published June 15, 2000 by Puffin Books.
Aerin, with the guidance of the wizard Luthe and the help of the Blue Sword, wins the birthright due her as the daughter of the Damarian king and a witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.
I was so glad when Luthe came along. I don't get Tor. He's her cousin. If he was not her cousin I would say this book is perfect. I respect what she did with the love triangle. I respect it. Some really awesome imagary of battling with dragons. Luthe is captivating. I would have enjoyed another book about him and Aerin.
This sticks quite closely to Eliade's classic script for shamanic initiation, although it would be difficult to discuss without spoilers. McKinley infuses life into the script and her heroine is recognizable to the modern reader - which is anthropologically problematic, but culturally understandable. It reads well.
This book gets as three star rating, because I thought the first half kind of drug. The second half of the book was definitely a lot better.
I did like the main character a lot, and I really wanted to know how the book was going to add, it was just a bit slow to start. That being said, I am going to start the next book in the series. Hopefully it goes along quicker.
