Customer Reviews (1)

A different twist
A young & curious girl is bound to two young metamorphic beings by a little known god.Beings of energy, the creatures change the girl, maturing her body and changing her features.

The village of the girl ispillaged and she vows to avenge her people by hunting down the bandits.Then she discovers what it means to be bound to two young creatures made ofenergy and a god who wants to be free.For the only way for them tosurvive is to feed on the energy of souls. ... Read more

Product Description
The author of the best-selling Diadem series presents the first novel in a series involving two worlds that magically conjoin once in each a generation and the good and evil wizards who move between them. Reprint. LJ. K. PW. " ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Beginnings of Chaos
Drum Warning (1996) is the first Fantasy novel in the Drums of Chaos series.It is set on two worlds -- Glandair and Iomard -- that exist in different universes, but are connected through the Pneuma.Every 700 years or so they partially overlay each other and the magic flowing between the two worlds causes disasters that disrupt civilizations.

Pneuma is another term for magic.It normally flows between the two worlds, but much greater flows will occur during the Settling.Only a Hero on Glandair can absorb the excess Pneuma and reduce the damage.

During the Settling, people can transit the gap without warning and be lost on the other side.In other years, some talented people can see across the gap and even cross it.

The Watchers on Glandair have been studying the Settlings for millennia and the Scribes on Iomard have also kept records on such events.Both are noticing signs that the next Settling is near.

In this novel, Cymel is the daughter of a Watcher.Her mother died in her early years and her father doesn't want to talk about it.Mela has a personality and talents much like her mother, a Scribe of Iomard.

Ellar Yliarson is Cymel's father.As a Watcher, he has vowed to never interfere except in self-defense.He had seen his wife cross over to Iomard and watched her die.

Corysiam is the sister of Cymel's mother and a Scribe of Iomard.Cory is also a Bridge, able to carry others across the gap.

Breith of House Urfa is a young man of Iomard.He knows more magic than most, but only women are supposed to practice magic on Iomard.He is very frustrated because the girls get training and he has to learn magic on his own.

Lyanz Kurrin is a young man of Nikawaid on Glandair.Laz's father is a merchant, but his mother is dead.His older brother walked away from the household and joined a monastery.

Mahara is a Mage of the Kale on Glandair.He had obtained his tower and paraphernalia from his former teacher.After Mahara killed him, his skin was made into a spirit drum.

Hudoleth is a Mage of Chusinkayan on Glandair.She is a scholar at the University.The Emperor is infatuated with her, but she keeps diverting his attention to other women.

Oerfel is a Mage of Nyddys on Glandair.He hides himself behind shields and acts as a clerk.Neither Mahara nor Hudoleth know of his existence.

Dur is a Siofray Mage of the Domains on Iomard.He has fled from his Domain to protect his manhood and his life.But the Seers have not quite forgotten him.He does not know about Glandair or the Settling.

In this story, Cymel is tending to her chores on Peak Farm.She feeds the predatory tullin and then the smaller colos.She joins her father as he milks a cows.After the milking is done, Cymel drives the cows into the cloverfield.

Later Cymel goes up the mountain, wondering at the strange curdling of the sky.Little gods play tricks on Cymel, such as untying her shoe laces.When she reaches her favorite resting place, she crawls out on a fallen tree and stretches out.

Then she has a vision of scribes and herdgirls on Iomard. Later she has another vision of a Siofray mage commanding her to come to him.Her father blocks that attempt, but resolves to enhance the wards to warn of Walkers.

Then Corysiam comes to visit them.She wants to take Cymel back to Iomard to teach her how to control her magic.Ellar refuses, stating that Cymel is too young.Cory doubts that, but drops her argument.

Breith skips school and goes with his friends to play a Slapgame.His Mam catches him at it and sends him home, with threats of further scolding that evening.Breith obeys, but is disgruntled at her unexpected appearance.

Later, Corysiam appears in their courtyard and sends Breith to tell his Mum that she wishes a word with her.Later, his Mam and his Da come home and join a conference with Cory.His Mum insists that Breith stay and hear the story.

At the insistence of his tutor, Lyanz demonstrates his skill at discerning the reality behind an illusion to his father.Yet his father says that such skills are just tricks.He orders the tutor to teach mathematics and logic.

Later, Laz talks to his older brother in town.His father then decides that Laz should have more practical experience in trading.He orders Laz to pack his bags and they sail off in his father's ship.

This tale leads the three Mages of Nordomon and Nyddys to covet the magic that will become available during the Settling.They begin to pick off Heroes and their Watcher guides.Dur discovers Glandair and the Mages there and starts scrying their actions.

This story has several main characters and skips around between them.The next installment is Drum Calls.Read and enjoy!

Recommended for Clayton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of powerful mages, covert magic, and young naivete.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Chapter 1 is superb!
I bought this book because of scanning through chapter 1. This is my usual method for deciding if a particular book might likely be something I would enjoy. This time, however, my method failed me. Chapter 1 was superb. The subsequent chapters were just *okay.*

Chapter 1 introduces Cymel, an 8-year old who lives on a farm with her dad. Her experience of the sights, smells, & activities on that farm are so vivid that I felt like I was there. I immediately liked Cymel and her dad, & was eager to follow the fascinating plot threads that were introduced in her chapter.

Sadly, however, the chapter ended & the book started introducing new characters, new locales, & new plot lines, etc etc, in rapid fire fashion. I soon got rather confused. Worse yet, Cymel seemed to have been relegated to a minor role, & I neither liked nor disliked any of the several new characters sufficiently to get me past the sixth chapter.

Too many wizards spoil the broth
In "Drum Warning," Book One of "The Drums of Chaos," an apprentice wizard doesn't earn his diploma until he kills his teacher, tans the old mage's hide and fashions a drum out of it.One would expect this custom to lead to a dearth of wizards on the two magically merging planets of Glandair and Iomard, but just the opposite is true. There are wizards who walk between worlds, wizards who cast death spells, wizards who do nothing but scribe, and yet more wizards who exercise what fantasy readers might consider the whole magical repertoire.Adding to the confusion, "Drum Warning" is told from multiple points-of-view---not just wizards, but the occasional swamp witch and minor bureaucrat.I finally had to sort the characters out by function:

There are three bad wizards who are murdering all would-be students on their way to a school of magery (in which the teachers don't end up as drum-heads).There are two teen-agers, a boy and a girl, who refuse to admit to their magical potential until the bad wizards attempt to kidnap the girl, sink a couple of ships out from under the boy, then try to drop a mountain on him when he refuses to drown. There is a bandit-wizard, on the run from a troop of female warriors who want to geld him.He seduces an alcoholic wizard, who--

A plot does somehow stay afloat in this confusion of magic.One of the young mages is destined to become the Hero who saves the merging planets of Glandair and Iomard (I don't quite understand the astronomy here) from chaos.There had been a collision seven hundred years past, when everything went to chaos.Libraries burned.Empires crumbled.Network T.V. ratings declined.

Can a young Hero save Glandair and Iomard from another time of chaos and bad programming?We're not even positive who will assume the role of Hero, although my money is on the twice-drowned boy.Nevertheless lots of interesting stuff takes place in "Drum Warning" while we wait for the Hero to appear.Little Gods torment cats, sour milk, and trash vegetable gardens.Big Gods make an occasional appearance and precipitate weird happenings (rather in the style of British royalty).An emperor is seduced by the Dark Side.An army marches into the realm of the swamp witch.Ships sink.A wizard is turned into a drum.

All of this makes good reading for a rainy day, if you can keep track of who is telling the story.

Not unreadable, but disappointing
This confused, unwieldy fantasy novel is one of the last written by Ms.Clayton, and unfortunately is far from her best work. It's the story of twoworlds drawing closer and closer together until the boundary between themdissipates and characters can talk, or even travel, between one and thenext. This is an original conception. Drum Warning also uses ritual magicin fresh, well-described ways. However, it is a severely flawed novel.There are too many characters and too many ill-defined subplots -- and mostof the characters are young adults, a common fantasy novel device that I'mthoroughly sick of. Also, Clayton does something annoying to me, which isto use Welsh language and poetic forms for some of the names and poetry ofone of her worlds -- without basing the culture on medieval (or any otherperiod) Welsh culture in any way, and in many cases with the names andwords being meaningless. I would have preferred her to have invented herown culture and language rather than "borrowing" something fromEarth. I also disliked the pointlessly cruel death of the young girl'spets, which is depressing without advancing the plot. This book isn'tunreadable -- there's certainly worse fantasy out there -- but I don'treally recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
On Iomard, Cymels father has been murdered, and she has been trapped by sorcerers in the body of a white bird. Her other-world companion Breith has crossed from Glandair to rescue her. Lyanz, the only one who can save his world from the coming chaos, is sequestered far away. But if he is to be of any use in the upcoming conflict, he must leave his safe haven behind.Bestselling author Jo Clayton died before she could complete her masterwork, The Drums of Chaos series. Her friend and proteg Kevin Murphy, a successful author himself, has worked closely with the outline and early chapters she completed. The result is a thunderous conclusion to this irresistible tale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A difficult task
I imagine it must be very hard to pick up someone else's work midpoint and try to bring it to the conclusion they intended. Kevin Andrew Murphy certainly gives it a good try here, and I'm not at all sorry I finished the book (which I had been eagerly awaiting for years. There is no huge let down here, no great frustrations. But while there are hints of Jo Clayton's voice here, and I enjoyed visiting with her characters again...this is a pale continuation of the series...the depth is, sadly, missing...and I suppose, in a very real way, that is the most fitting tribute to Ms. Clayton possible...her work was finished, but her spirit is clearly absent.

The White Bird and the Mole
Drum Into Silence (2002) is the third novel in the Drums of Chaos series, following Drum Calls.In the previous novel, the three Mages attack Ellar in the Vale of Caeffordian and Cymel yields wholly to the Flow, blowing away the Mages and becoming the White bird.She takes Lyanz, Amhar, Talgryf, and the bodies of her father and Elizeth to her home.At Ellar's Tower, she finds Breith and tries to return to her own self, but can't.Terrified, she flies away.

In this novel, Breith calls to Cymel, but she starts to fly away.He grabs at her, but only clutches some long black hairs and a leather clasp, a tie that Cymel used to hold back her hair.Breith hauls the bodies, both dead and alive, into the entryway of the Tower.He wraps the dead in sheets and carries them into the cellar.Then he carries the sleepers upstairs to the dusty, cobwebby beds and quickly falls asleep in his own bed.

The next morning, Breith finally gets to wash off the ash, sweat, blood, and stench and drink a cup of tea.He decides to leave Talgryf with the responsibility for Lyanz and Amhar so he can pursue Cymel to turn her back into a human.Breith slips away under a flimsy shield of no-see and, days later, Talgryf manages to get the Hero and his lover off the mattress and onto the road.In the shrine of Marath Alaesh, Brother Kyo drops an icon of the god and chases it around the altar, only to realize that it has become an incarnation of the god Himself;he is signaled to seek out and help his brother.In Valla Murdoch, Faobran sends Yasayl, Malart and a group of scribes out to sea.Rinchay Matan watches her god, Kamkajar, shrivel and fade away and she dedicates her life to finding and punishing the liar who has destroyed her tribe.

Deep beneath the temple of Dyf Tanew in Tyst, Oerfel, the hidden Mage of Neddys, makes it back to his hexagram and resolves to destroy Cyfareth University.Mahara lays siege to Kar Markaz.Hudoleth renews her youth and returns to the palace to manipulate the Emperor.

This novel is the conclusion to the series, which was interrupted by the author's demise.The posthumous collaboration with Kevin Andrew Murphy has been very true to the previous volumes.

Highly recommended to Clayton fans and anyone else who enjoys complex tales of wizardry and war.

-Arthur W. Jordin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

disapointing after Skeen
There was too much sex.Having said that, there were passages that took too long.In addition, with the Diadem she becomes too powerfull.All in all it was a burden to finish.

Okay book and a must read for Jo Clayton fans.
This book, which starts the Diadem series, develops really slowly (think classic novel as opposed to an action packed sci-fi film).There are also several scenes at the start that seem to come from nowhere (some do makesense later in the book).However, Jo Clayton did do a good job of gettingthe reader involved with the character (it doesn't hurt that she's a reallysexy fem with lots of power).Clayton also did a nice blend of futuristicspace themes with primitive ideas of elemental magic (this becomes evenmore apparent in the later parts of the series).Finally, the Diadem isjust really cool (I'd like to have one of my own someday).

The flagship of a lengthy saga...
"Diadem from the Stars" kicks off Clayton's mammoth nine-book (with a follow-up trilogy which picks up where the original series, or what's left of it, leaves off) Diadem series. This book, which (to be quite honest) is mainly exposition, introduces us to the herione of the saga, Aleytys, who was orphaned by her spacefaring mother on a barbarian world. The book concerns her discovering her pastand her powers, and her escape from the tribe who fears and resents her. In the course of her travels to find a way offworld to her home planet, she comes across the diadem, an alien artefact which, when she dons it, implants itself permamently into her skull and endows her with mysterious and fearful powers. The story unfolds in a manner similar to Tanith Lee's classic "The Birthgrave", but not as moody and bombastic. I quite enjoyed Clayton's writing style, and look forward to reading more of her work. ... Read more

Product Description
Awakening from a centuries-long sleep, Serroi discovers that she has developed powers of healing, but that her world has become haunted by an evil force that can alter life and death, and must marshal an attack or witness civilization's destruction. Original. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dance down the stars
I will grab any Jo Clayton when I get a chance.She was an excellent writer & I love her worlds. ... Read more

Product Description
Thick Hardcover with 889 pages, DAW/Guild American copyright 1989. Each story's copyright 1989 for A Gathering of Stones, 1988 for Blue Magic and 1986 for Drinker of Souls. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

High Adventure, Enjoyable
Skeen, space pilot, trader, collector, and theif had come to the world of Mistommerk through a bizarre Gateway in time and space. A gateway which only one of its creators, the mysterious Ykx, could reopen from the Mistommerk side. So Skeen began her search for Ykx, a search that would take her into 8 different domains with 8 different races which dwelt together in an uneasy peace.
Soon Skeen's quest upset the delicate balance of power on Mistommerk, and she and her new found friends, found themselves pursued by bloodthirsty assassins, determined to end their lives before they could unlock the Gate between worlds and escape with Mistommerk's most precious treasure.

Well written and quite enjoyable. ... Read more

Product Description
After awakening from a centuries-long spell, Serroi finds her world plagued by a bizarre evil force that controls the minds and souls of others, and she takes aim against this enemy she can barely understand. Original. ... Read more

Product Description
The author of the bestselling "Diadem" series combines complexly woven worlds of magic with a large cast of unforgettable characters in this novel that tells the story of Cymel, a child who will attempt to save the worlds from evil as the rumble of the Drums of Chaos get louder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The last of a great writer!
Once agin we enter the tangled saga of two worlds threatned by magic. A complicated and complex tale, sadly this is the last complete work of writer Jo Clayton- she wil be greatly missed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Highly recommended!
I have loved all the books in this series for years. Clayton is an fantantic writer and world builder, the action is pretty much fastpaced and the protaganist, Skeen is very relatable to men or women.

Shame there will only be three in the series
I first became aware of Jo Clayton in the Diadiem series, enjoying those, and the spin-offs, but in this book and the two sequels, Ms Clayton was a writer at the peak of her powers. Skeen is a person you'd like to meet, (keeping a hand on your wallet of course), human, humane in the best sense of the word, willing to deal with anyone as a person, regardless of the shape they were. An outer worlds Lara Croft, emeshed in multiple quests as consequence of trying to get home, Skeen uses her intelligence and skills, maintaining her integrity, safe-guarding her followers, coming through, a lttle bloody but unbowed.
Ms Clayton also had a fine talent in deliniating interesting aliens, with their own outlook and standards in just a few words.
Great chapter heading too, e.g. 'A day, a night, another day of dull travelling, lets just skip all that and get onto the next exciting bit'
A fine author, greatly missed. Not lost before she came into her powers, but what might she have done with a few more years?

Fast-paced, gritty adventures of a hard-edged heroine.
This book is set in the same base universe as Clayton's epic "Diadem" series, but features a new and fascinating character.Skeen, a tough, quirky woman with a dark past, makes her living as a"rooner", plundering the treasures of the past on worlds acrossthe galaxy.With the authorities hot on her trail, she stumbles through a"gate" into an alternate universe, where several different racesfrom her own universe have found their way and share a world in relativepeace.Skeen teams up with one of the shapeshifter indigenes of thisworld, and sets out on a quest for the near-extinct race who created theGate, the only ones who can operate it and send Skeen back home. This bookfeatures Clayton's usual wildly imaginative array of beings and cultures. Skeen's outlaw background tends to bring her into contact with theunderworlds of these cultures, unlike Aleytys whose conflicts seemed to bemainly with corporate and ruling-class types. But Clayton's trademark sharpsocial commentary is still very much present, as the uneasy interactionsbetween the different races form a backdrop for Skeen's adventures.Skeenis a much more complex, hard-edged character than Aleytys, with somedefinite kinks as a result of her troubled past. But she's an engagingcharacter, and has enough good qualities that you won't mind following herthrough this book and the two sequels."Skeen's Leap" has allthe Clayton hallmarks that "Diadem" fans have come to appreciate:imaginative,detailed settings and cultures; intelligent social commentaryand realistically complex moral dilemmas; engaging, well-fleshed outsupporting characters; thoughtul passages alternating with suspenseful,fast-paced action sequences. I'm not sure how much I like the shortyou-are-the-author passages that precede each chapter, but I give Claytoncredit for trying something different. A "rogues's quest" storythat manages to transcend the usual formula. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

All the world comes to the fair, sooner or later
Adams, Robert: "Prologue" - This overview of the fair at Ithkar outlines its evolution from a simple religious festival, honoring the first appearance of the Three Lordly Ones in their Divine Egg, to a weeks-long fair. The temple makes good money, providing well-kept, well-policed fairgrounds.

Carter, Lin: "The Goblinry of Ais" - Lady Ais is a great beauty, whose fame has spread far over the years. But now she's interested in something more dangerous than politics...

Cherryh, C.J. "To Take a Thief" Sphix, like the small sly animal that's his namesake, is a 'good' thief: he never takes anything whose loss'll hurt the victim. But no one can ever keep to one level of evil...

Clayton, Jo: "Jezeri and Her Beast Go to the Fair and Find More Excitement Than They Want" When Jezeri's family took in Old 'Un, Tanu (a tiny little thing, whose like had never before been seen), crept out of his gear and won Jezeri's heart. Unfortunately, someone at the fair appears to know more about Tanu than Jezeri does...

Llywelyn, Morgan: "Fletcher Found" - The narrator, a "cuckoo's chick" among the mountain forge-folk, has in his loneliness become convinced that he's a foundling of those beings from another world, the Three Lordly Ones.

Mathews, Patricia: "Well Met in Ithkar" Master jeweller Corielle is reestablishing herself after what she can only now call 'the fortunes of war'. She'll never forget the voice of the man who ordered the beating that blinded her, even years later at Ithkar fair. But how can she formally identify him by voice alone?

Mayhar, Ardath: "Esmene's Eyes" Esmene's magnificent embroidery is magical - when she pours her very life into it. Despite her illness (she's slowly dying of internal injuries), she answers the priests' summons the fair, to wield her talents one last time.

Norton, Andre: "Swamp Dweller" Kara is one of the Quatka, animal trainers whose companions are Second-Kin to them, cherished and communicated with. Even the ugly, abused reptile Kara found in a beast seller's cage at the fair deserves consideration. But Kara feels that he has hidden potential...If you like this story, try Norton's _Moon of Three Rings_.

Sampson, Judith: "Qazia and a Ferret-Fetch" The evil wizard Chond is more than a match for any hero, and his ferret-fetch familiar will never let a prisoner escape. But when blind Hoel fetches up at the Joyous Goblet in Ithkar, tavernmistress Qazia won't let her guest be dragged away. (The ferret-fetch, by the way, is an interesting character in his own right.)

Schlobin, Roger C.: "For Lovers Only" Brother Jerome "the Huncher" piously wears a hair shirt - concealing his thefts from the temple treasury. He was driven half-crazy (and into the monastery) when his lover dumped him *very* brutally for a richer man, and he's financing a suitable revenge.

Schutz, J.W. "Dragon's Horn" - Tonya's father left only debts and the Enchanted Doll Show. While the dolls move by enchantment, they need human voices; Tonya hires strangers to fill out the parts of Dragon and King, while Lord Caum licks his chops, waiting to enslave Tonya if she can't pay off the debt after the fair...

Schwartz, Susan: "Homecoming" Andriu fled his novitiate at the Temple of the Three Lordly Ones fifteen years ago. As a dream-singer, able to shape reality with his songs, he's been in and out of scrapes for years. Now suffering from lung-fever, he's come home. But someone has far worse trouble than he; Vassilka needs an exorcism for an unborn child...

Springer, Nancy: "The Prince out of the Past" Even spirits are drawn to Ithkar Fair.

Waters, Elisabeth: "Cold Spell" Eirthe the candlemaker refused a Thotharn priest's request to make candles in the likeness of wealthy merchants. He retaliated by cold-cursing her: her candles will no longer burn. But she can't prove he's running a protection racket, so how can she make a living?

This book was full of interesting and compelling stories.
The stories in this book are fascinating. It delves into the lives of manystrange and colorful people. There are interesting and fanciful tales ofadventure. It is a non stop look into the way many different authors weavetheir tales. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great for the first 200 pages, then goes downhill
This book has little to do with the Diadem Saga by Jo Clayton, though it is set in the same universe.It's not really a novel, more like a series of inter-connected short stories following the character Gleia.She's the central character in the first few, then later on plays a more restricted side-kick role.

Dramatically, because they are short stories, new important characters are introduced everywhere in the novel.The only constant is Gleia, and the Ragna Eyes, an addictive crystal which sucks out the souls of those it tempts.I enjoyed the earlier stories about Gleia the Embroiderer more than the later ones about Gleia the Vixen (four star early book, three stars later book), as the Juggler continuously produces deus-ex machina escapes and devices.The shallow character Deel the Dancer, mentioned in the back cover blurb, doesn't show up until well past the book's midpoint and doesn't do much.

What I didn't like was the transition of Gleia from multi-dimensional talented embroideress into the Juggler's sidekick.At the end of 'Fifth Summer's Tale, Part Three' it is a major plot point that Gleia has nearly finished making a noblewoman's dress of rare and expensive fabrics.After the story finishes, the dress in never mentioned again, much like many facets of Gleia's formerly developed character.

While I will be on the look-out for more of Jo Clayton's novels, this one had flat romance and spent an extra hundred pages meandering.Could've used an epilogue, as the major plot is wrapped up, but not much else.

ABait of Dreams
I've bought and read every book written by Jo Clayton. I bought this book when it first came out, but apparently forgot about it and actually thought I'd read it. As I got into the story, I realized I had not read it. What a treat! It takes place on the planet of Jaydugar some 300 years after Aletys (Diadem series) gives birth to her son, Sharl. Sharl goes by the name of Schounach and has the longevity and self-healing genes of Aletys. When he was six, he was given a Ranga Eye, an addictive killer, but gave it to his half brother, who died from it. This book deals with his search for the source of these Ranga Eye killers with the objective of destroying the source. If you are a fan of Jo Clayton, you will like this book. I'm confident Jo Clayton would have written more on Sharl and his adventures but for her untimely death in 1998.

An engrossing tale of addiction
This was the first book I read by Clayton and I have been addicted ever since.An in depth look at addiction with lots of twists and turns.It really keeps your interest and is an excellent read if you can find thiswork.One of my favorites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

charming fantasy
The heroine of this book is Faan who was stolen from her family when she was three by a goddess. The goddess leaves her to be found by a hermaphodite prostitute. Basically the story follows Faan as she grows up in a outcast family made up of unwanted people. She eventually grows into her destiny as a pawn in the war of the gods. I really enjoyed how the author brought to life all the major characters and the dillemas that they face. It is a fast paced story with enough mystery left that I'm looking forward to the next book in this trilogy.

Jo Clayton paints a beautiful fantasy landscape
This is book is a wonderful book. I greatly enjow Jo Clayton's fantasy worlds and her great heroines. A yound girl with a mysterious past finds herself with a man who has had a bad past. Together they try to find out who she really is and soon she discovers many magical powers including the power to burn anything and everything around her. Set on a fantasy world with characters that will make you laugh and cry I strongly recomend it. Too bad its out of print but find it and read it, then read the other ones in the series (Wildfire...) I read it when I was in middle school, which didn't bither me but it might bother other parents because there is some graphic content, (like the man is a prostitute who dresses like a woman) but that doesn't make him bad, he's really nice. This is a whole other world and time so..ok, it might make you cry, it is kinda sad, but good. ... Read more