Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: mages, shapeshifters, kingdoms
Age Appropriate: Teen
Recommended for my sister: Yep
"I suppose training isn't supposed to be fun..." -Aralorn
Aralorn is a Sianim spy who is really not from Sianim. She is a shapeshifter, though, and when she left home she found herself with a good job that lets her use her skills. The assignment that starts the series has her pretending to be a girl pretending to be a bird in a cage under the influence of the ae'Magi, the most powerful wizard in the land. It isn't until she returns from her assignment, by the skin of her teeth, that she notices something very wrong under the surface. Somehow, everyone she meets up with, from friends to strangers, is completely enthralled with the master mage.
Together with her friend Wolf - another possible shapeshiter/mage/something, she leaves town in search of King Myr, who is the only person she's seen who might not be anymore affected that her Wolf and herself. If something is that wrong, then something very bad is coming and the ae'Magi was going to need stopping. Aralorn and her Wolf find themselves in a refugee camp full of those not under the power of the ae'Magi and a small revolution beginning under his feet. It's a dangerous task simply to take care of the strangers and orphans, but they join the group to start thinking about their next plans. The story reveals some very important mysteries about Aralorn, Wolf and the deep dark secrets of what is happening around them.
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It's a nice little series. I definitely enjoy some of the more fantastical elements. I'm bummed out that it isn't longer. I think she could've really run with it, but I wasn't disappointed with it in any other way. After reading it, I totally wanted to have shapeshifter powers. Although, I'm glad I don't have a husband with a crazy psycho-mage megalomaniac father.
There isn't to much to say about this series. It's not even a series, really. It's really a duology, although Briggs has two more book that are set in the time/place as these. It's epic fantasy-lite. I appreciate that the author is able to cross multiple fantasy genres and still make all of the stories fun. The Mercy Thompson series, which I read first, is a standard urban fantasy, and I've frequently found that bridging the gap isn't always successful for some authors. This is a good, quick read - probably great for sitting on a beach and having a cold drink.
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Books are good: The Others
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