I love it when fantasists draw on other sources besides Tolkein. As with the first book, anybody who enjoys the work of Patricia McKillip will lap it up, and again this is a female novel with little in it to appeal to a male reader. Paula tells it in her own words, and struggles against the restraints of her time and the place where she is staying. But she gets to learn that there is more to life than scholarship, and that choices need to be made for more reasons than just female emancipation. Throughout the book we see her and the characters she is with grow and change, which makes it a satisfying read. It is another book like the first about the rigors of growing up, the pleasures and pains of first love. This makes it sound worthy, and it is truly anything but, as a more delightful escapist fantasy can hardly be imagined - at least not by me. Don’t think, either, that it is just for teenage girls, as women of any age who enjoy fantasy (or historical novels) are sure to find plenty to enjoy in such a polished and elegant tale with all the wonder of a fairy or folk tale. It even has what is surely the most beautiful cover of 2007. Very highly enjoyable, and hopefully not the only other book in the series.