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Overview
A woman blessed, or cursed, with a talent for witchcraft returns to Castle Auburn where she spent her childhood in joy-only to find an aura of dread awaiting her.
Synopsis
A woman blessed, or cursed, with a talent for witchcraft returns to Castle Auburn where she spent her childhood in joy-only to find an aura of dread awaiting her.
Publishers Weekly
The latest enchantment from Crawford Award winner Shinn (The Shape Changer's Wife and the Samaria trilogy) combines romantic spice, a dash of faerie and a pinch of intrigue to create a hybrid souffl that is delicious, if not filling. Lowborn Corie, the impressionable young heroine, spends her summers with her highborn sister, Elisandra, at Castle Auburn and the rest of the year in a village apprenticed to a "wise woman" witch/herbalist called Grandmother. Corie accompanies her Uncle Jaxon on a hunt for the Aliora, faerielike creatures who serve as unwilling slaves to the humans inhabiting this quasi-medieval world. Also along for the ride is Elisandra's future husband, Prince Bryan of Auburn, a vain 16-year-old adored by most girls (including Corie) and loathed by most men. As Corie ages, she gets over her crush on the increasingly narcissistic and self-indulgent young prince. The relationship between the sisters deepens along with the plot lines revolving around Jaxon's obsession with the Aliora and their queen, Rowena, whose flickering presence suggests other, darker story lines that Shinn might have investigated to produce a less predictable confection. The love story between the hunter and the hunted is more electrifying than the sisters' romances. What makes Bryan change is never explored fully, just as his constant bad-boy image is never explained. While the story moves quickly in Shinn's seasoned hands, her fans may be left hungry for more substantive fare. (Apr. 10) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewIf you like fairy tale-type fantasies, you owe it to yourself to read Sharon Shinn's Summers at Castle Auburn. The story centers around Coriel, a naïve bastard child with noble bloodlines who spends most of the year learning about herbs and potions while living with her grandmother, a hedge witch, in a country cottage. Her summers are spent with her half-sister Elisandra at Castle Auburn.
Life at the castle is idyllic for the two young girls. Coriel's days are filled with horseback riding, playing with her sister, dressing up in beautiful gowns and flirting with boys. Coriel even gets to go on an extended "hunting party" with her uncle Jaxon and a group of young men. The expedition is to the Faelyn River to hunt for aliora, which are fairy-like creatures with strange powers. The hunting party doesn't capture any aliora, but Coriel does witness a strange, secret meeting between her uncle and a beautiful aliora named Rowena.
As Coriel and Elisandra get older, the sad realities of noble life become more intensified. Elisandra, it seems, is to be married to Prince Byran, an egotistical womanizer who loves hunting wildlife -- including the harmless aliora. And Coriel realizes that she has been groomed for the exact same fate. She is a pawn to be married off to nobility.
Reading this book was an absolute joy. Shinn has not only created an intriguing world of wild contrasts, but also a handful of characters that you can't help but root for. And, as usual with fairy tales, the ending is a happy one -- although I'll guarantee that you'll be just as surprised as I was when I read the last chapter. This is a great book for fantasy fans of all ages, but considering the age of the protagonist and her ordeals, I think it's a perfect book for teenage girls. (Paul Goat Allen)