Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: riders, messengers, kings, intrigue
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Recommended for my sister: Absolutely
"I am not a Green Rider!" - Karigan
One fateful day, Karigan G'ladheon is expelled from her school, Selium. It is an academy which is widely renowned. After a little swordplay with a spoiled aristocrat, Karigan finds herself running off in a bit of a tantrum at the injustice of it all. In her haste through slightly unknown forests, Karigan stumbles on a dying man is a green uniform, with two arrows in her back. This messenger pries a solemn deathbed promise out of Karigan to complete his mission in getting his messages back to the King. She takes his messages, a spare uniform, and his uniquely intelligent horse and trots off on her new mission.
Along the way Karigan meets various obstacles, both big and small, all in her effort to reach the King with the messages. Each time she's met with an obstacle, or even a new character, Karigan consistently insists that she is not a Green Rider, simply finishing his mission as promised. Things begin to prove differently throughout her journey, but she adamantly denies all of the signs. While stumbling some crazy situation, she realizes that her horse really is unusually smart, and that she's developed some sort of magical gift. There are evil forces infiltrating the kingdom and now she's found herself in the middle of a growing, tainted conflict. In each books of the series, Karigan fights against herself while fighting against the evil spreading through the land. With all of the battles on each front, she manages to add a different aspect when a little bit of romance rears it's head.
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The Green Rider series is pretty fun for me. It's like a younger version of The Deed of Paksenarrion. There are some elves running around, though not much more of the other races often found in similar stories. One of my favorite aspects is how much Karigan rails against her new powers and responsibilities. It's not because I want to see her struggle, but more that heroes (or heroines) often think of how awesome they are, or how cool they could be, and Karigan wants nothing more than to abandon her new life and return to her old one - except that she has an incredible sense of duty hiding behind some of that angst.
I'm keeping this at Young Adult because, although there is a brief encounter that might be considered more on the adult side of things, I don't feel that two pages in the fourth book takes it above the rating. The one big disappointment of the series is that Kristen Britain takes about two years to release a book. I'm glad because they're usually pretty well done, but sad because I'm a bit impatient. There are a few things that don't really sit well with me, but I've enjoyed the series nonetheless. I'd definitely recommend it. It's close to light reading, but still pretty entertaining. Now, the question is...what is going to happen with those romantic entanglements!? (I'm such a girl.)
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Yes, you are!: Elemental Assassin series - Jennifer Estep
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