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The Shamer's Daughter, by Lene Kaaberbol
Feb. 26th, 2008 11:23 pmThe Shamer's Daughter
by Lene Kaaberbol
235 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/YA
This is Book 1 of the Shamer's Chronicles, and that fact alone nearly turned me away. But I checked it out from the school library on a crazy whim, and it seems my library-luck is holding firm. Although The Shamer's Daughter has classic characteristics of the first-in-a-series syndrome--especially the incomplete ending--it is short, quick, and satisfying.
Dina Tonerra, age 11, has inherited her mother's gift--or curse--as Shamer. She can look anyone in the eye and see their darkest secrets, rouse their conscience and sense of shame. But when her mother is called to Dunark Castle to investigate murders of the highest degree, Dina is drawn into a far different world from her tiny village hometown--a world of conspiracy, deception, blood and dragons. The Shamer's gift is not infallible, and there are (as expected) societal consequences attached.
The character development here is sketchy but interesting; the plot is political but also necessarily simplistic. Dina is only a girl, after all, not even a teenager; keep her age in mind, especially considering that half of the supporting characters are adults. I had issues with the unfinished, loose ending, but I've also come to expect such things from YA series. I liked how the magic wasn't all-powerful, or even a omnipresent--there are only extraordinary people, and dragons. Ultimately, despite my complaints, I'll be on the lookout for the next volume of the Shamer's Chronicles.
by Lene Kaaberbol
235 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/YA
This is Book 1 of the Shamer's Chronicles, and that fact alone nearly turned me away. But I checked it out from the school library on a crazy whim, and it seems my library-luck is holding firm. Although The Shamer's Daughter has classic characteristics of the first-in-a-series syndrome--especially the incomplete ending--it is short, quick, and satisfying.
Dina Tonerra, age 11, has inherited her mother's gift--or curse--as Shamer. She can look anyone in the eye and see their darkest secrets, rouse their conscience and sense of shame. But when her mother is called to Dunark Castle to investigate murders of the highest degree, Dina is drawn into a far different world from her tiny village hometown--a world of conspiracy, deception, blood and dragons. The Shamer's gift is not infallible, and there are (as expected) societal consequences attached.
The character development here is sketchy but interesting; the plot is political but also necessarily simplistic. Dina is only a girl, after all, not even a teenager; keep her age in mind, especially considering that half of the supporting characters are adults. I had issues with the unfinished, loose ending, but I've also come to expect such things from YA series. I liked how the magic wasn't all-powerful, or even a omnipresent--there are only extraordinary people, and dragons. Ultimately, despite my complaints, I'll be on the lookout for the next volume of the Shamer's Chronicles.
