Havenstar

Yet no sooner had Piers lifted the bar than the door was flung open with immense force, catching him across the chest and arm. His knife went flying and before he could utter a sound he was flattened by his attacker and two clawed hands the size of dinner plates were around his throat, squeezing, crushing his windpipe. It happened so fast - and this assailant was so unnaturally strong - that he never had a chance.

The story:
Keris Kaylen is the daughter of Piers Kaylen, a master mapmaker, and she has inherited his skill with maps. When her father is killed, however, it is her brother who is expected to carry on her father's shop. There is no room for a woman mapmaker in her world.

But when her brother plans to marry her to a friend of his, to get his hands on her dowry, she decides to run away. But to do that, she will have to leave the First Stability, where she has lived her whole life, and travel through the Unstable, where Chaos rules.

With a strange group of fellow travelers, she sets out to find the reason for her father's murder. And this takes her on a journey across the realm, chasing legends.

Thoughts about the book:
The situation of the heroine is familiar; a young woman barred from the carriere she most wants because of her gender. The solution too is not uncommon.

However, the setting is strange. Chaos and Order strive for power, and this story focuses on people caught in the middle of the struggle, and who don't really belong anywhere.

The characters seem at times somewhat mainstream; most of them lack the depth that makes a character unforgettable. But the story is entertaining, the setting is original, and the book is absolutely worth reading.

About the author Glenda Noramly

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