My take on the book:

It was good! A very different pace than my normal books but that was fine :) The plot is great and compelling and it has magic and dragon-like creatures... who doesn't love that hmm?

World-building was great, no matter where we were in the world, everything was described with an eye for detail, but not too much, which made it easy to just flow with the story and not be annoyed.

Character development was excellent! We see both Strell and Alissa grow (a lot actually) during their journey to the Hold and during their trials and tribulations at the Hold itself, growing up and growing closer to each other (which was so cute and had me face palming a couple of times... cute!).
We get a lot of insight into their reasoning, what their history is and why they are on this journey. Even when we look at our villain, the evil Keeper Bailic, do we get a lot of information, though at this moment, I'm still wondering about the big 'why'.

Pacing and flow were decent. Mind you, in my opinion, it is a very slow paced story with only the last few chapters that have a faster flow while working to the end of book 1.

The book in itself is well written, with no (noticeable) errors. There is also no sex in this book (if that is important to you).

All in all, a good start to a promising series, though perhaps for me a tad too slow and uneventful. However, I will surely be reading part 2 sometime soon (when I have a lot of spare time on my hands). ( )

This epic fantasy/coming of age novel follows the adventure of Alissa and Strell. Alissa is the daughter of a Keeper but her father has been missing for years. She is also a half-breed. She's not accepted by the local villagers. When her mother determines that she has inherited her father's magic, she insists that Alissa travel to the Hold for training.

Along the way she meets Strell who is a Plainsman who has been sent away from his family to work as a bard. He has just learned that his whole family was lost in a flood and is wondering what to do with the rest of his life. He was given a map by Alissa's mother in a trade. Alissa wants that map since she knows it was made by her father and she is able to read it.

The two team up to find their way to the Hold before winter overtakes them. There they learn that the sole inhabitant is Bailic who has killed or imprisoned the rest of the Keepers and has been searching for a magical book for many years. Alissa's father had the book but hid it before entering the Hold and being murdered by Bailic. Now Alissa wants to find his book at least as much a Bailic wants it.

This was an entertaining story with lots of magic and adventure. I liked the growing relationship between Strell and Alissa. I liked the worldbuilding. My only complaint is that this is the first of four books and thus leaves all sorts of plot threads hanging. ( )

{First of 4: Truth series. Fantasy, YA} (2002)

I picked this up as an indirect book bullet from a recommendation for a different Dawn Cook series (who also writes as Kim Harrison) - [Decoy Princess].

The farmers of the foothills and the craftspeople of the plains disdain each other and only trade with each other through necessity. Alissa, who is a halfbreed of both plains and foothills and thus shunned by both, is reluctantly sent on a quest by her mother to follow in her missing father’s footsteps.

Strell comes from a family of famous potters where every other family member has joined the family trade but he has inexplicably been sent out into the world to find his way as a minstrel.

The two cross paths and, in a world where everyone believes there is no magic, find their way to the mysterious, isolated Hold in the mountains which everyone thought existed only in stories. There an unknown danger awaits, but they are trapped there as winter sets in. Despite their initial xenophobia they learn to be loyal to each other.

I thought this was an interesting story. Although I noticed that it takes the travellers a while to get to the Hold I realised that the time is necessary to build the story and the relationship between the two protagonists.

I felt that there were some issues with the writing - this does seem to be her first book (in either incarnation) - and there were some issues also with ‘printing’ in this e-book such as duplicated sentences but I’m happy to borrow more in the series.

3.5 stars ( )

Fantasy fiction, young girl and her path to maturity and learning her destiny, also looking at prejudices
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I am a big fan of Kim Harrison, she is one of my top 5 authors. I had to try her Dawn Cook books, I found it very enjoyable. It is an easy to read, fantasy. The two main characters are from opposite sides of the track in this world. Alissa is stubborn, powerful with latent magic and naive. Strell is humorous, musical and stubborn. Both distrust each other, and think less of the other because of where they are from. They are forced to combine their journeys after events tear their families apart.There is some repetition I found grating on my nerves at times, but the story moves quickly. The relationship that grows is believable and follows a natural course for the time period.
I enjoyed the story, I could believe in the characters and their relationships, the world created and it's magic was new and exciting. I have already ordered the next book in the series.


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