Synopsis
In this first book of the Watcher’s Quest trilogy, Emma is hurtled from her quiet farm life into strange worlds of intrigue and terror.
VOYA
Emma is an outsider, even to her own family. Although her parents and sickly younger sister all are dark haired and dark eyed, Emma has a long, pale face, white hair, and an almost abnormal compulsion to protect her family night and day. Her concern is directed primarily at her younger sister, Summer, whose mysterious fainting spells slowly sap her strength. Emma does not trust her new-age, bee-keeping mother or her impractical artist father to keep Summer safe. Emma is dismayed when she learns that her mother has accepted a job for Emma away from the house, caring for a bed-ridden man. Emma becomes more enthusiastic about her new job when the man introduces her to a game in which she must protect a band of characters and safely conduct them across a wild and magical world. Soon she becomes so involved in the game that she has waking dreams about it. She finds herself spying on other characters in the game and listening to their strategy. Emma soon begins to wonder if she really is dreaming. Buffie has set out to create a complex and highly imaginative fantasy world. Unfortunately, the complexity of this world sometimes is so detailed that it becomes evident why many fantasy writers plan on trilogies or series to develop a story line. For this reviewer, the most intriguing part of the story is the character of Emma and her compulsion to care for those she loves. This story line is much more compelling than the fantasy world. Fans of Buffie's earlier work and those readers enticed by the title, thinking the book will be a story of the supernatural, will find this book hard to put down. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School,defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2000, Kids Can Press, 264p. Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Alison Kastner VOYA, February 2001 (Vol. 23, No.6)