The Queen In Winter by Lynn Kurland, Claire Delacroix, Sharon Shinn, Sarah Monette

Product Details

Synopsis

From four of today's most imaginative authors come four stories of love as pure as the driven snow that will warm the coldest of hearts.

USA Today bestselling author Claire Delacroix delivers an enchanting tale of a gifted seer who receives a vision of a man whom she was not meant to marry, but was meant to love.

USA Today bestselling author Lynn Kurland spins a story of a mortal man and an elven woman who endure both the mundane and the magical in their quest to remain together.

Award-winning author Sharon Shinn writes of a brave young woman who saves her sister's magically- gifted child, only to receive an unexpected gift of her own.

And newcomer Sarah Monette's romantic novella tells of a warrior maiden trapped in a deadly storm with the only man she ever wanted, whose scars she must heal if he is ever to want her.

Marsha Valance - VOYA

The quality of the love stories in this fantasy collection varies greatly. The strongest, Sarah Monette's A Gift of Wings, showcases a woman warrior who must solve a murder in order to stay with her beloved, an injured sorcerer stripped of his magic. Although set in an unrealized realm distinguished by a mixture of medieval German and ancient Greek usage, it is redeemed by the plot, as the reader watches the heroine solve the mystery step-by-step. It is followed in quality by Sharon Shinn's When Winter Comes, which portrays several characters from her novel Mystic and Rider (Ace, 2005/VOYA October 2005). This story feels more like an episode from the next novel in the series, rather than a stand alone, but the two sisters fleeing with the Talented baby are fully realized characters. Although the younger sister's noble lover is not as developed, the reader can enjoy watching the future lovers rescue one another as they fall in love. Lynn Kurland's Whisper of Spring, wherein a sorcerer king rescues and courts a captive Elven princess, is a straightforward romantic adventure. Clare Delacroix's The Kiss of the Snow Queen, in which she adds a very annoying wisecracking Loki to her reworking of the Hans Andersen fairy tale, is merely irritating. There are many other titles where collection development dollars might be better placed, and this collection is not recommended for purchase. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2006, Berkley, 316p., $13 Trade pb. Ages 15 to Adult.

Biography

Claire Delacroix is the USA Today bestselling author of many historical and contemporary novels.

Lynn Kurland is the USA Today bestselling author of ten novels, and a RITA Award winner.

Sharon Shinn won the William Crawford Award for achievement in fantasy.

Sarah Monette has a Ph.D. in English literature, and received the Spectrum Award for short fiction.