Ace, Dec 2003, 6.99, 384 pp.
ISBN 0491011179
Life is never dull when Alissa, a human Master who can turn into a raku, is around. She is the hope that the Master line will be able to go on and she is studying under the auspices of the Hold's Master Talon-Toeca, otherwise known as Useless. Also living at the hold is the commoner Strell who is forbidden to court Alissa, and Lodesh, a keeper who four centuries ago was the warden of the now abandoned city of Ese' Nowoer. The revived ghost also wants to court Alissa.
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One day while Alissa is studying with the Master, she accidentally transports herself back four hundred years into the past when the hold was filled with keepers. Master Redal-Sam tries to make her transition into the past easier for he fears she will not be able to return to her present. Alissa turns the hold into a madhouse as she makes one mistake after another. Eventually, she thinks of it as her second home but she can't forget the love she feels for Strell who is willing to do whatever is necessary to bring her back to her own time.
This is the third “truth” in this enchanting series (see FIRST TRUTH and HIDDEN TRUTH) and it is a delightful blend of romance, action and wizardry. Dawn Cook will appeal to readers of Robin McKinley and Patricia Briggs, authors who write romantic fantasies for adult entertainment as well as for high school students. There are many threads left dangling in this novel so that readers know there is at least one more truth to follow.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
