Disclosure - I read ISBN 9780671420833. But this cover is so much more apt, I want you to be sure to see it. And after all, I chose it because I wanted to try something by Kress as I'd heard good words about her; I didn't choose it based on the cover. More review later - good book.

Ok. This is a book I really really wish I'd read when I was a teen. Kirila is in many ways the kind of role model I could have used. She's adventurous, smart and tough, but still introspective, romantic and vulnerable. The writing is at times witty (poking fun at fantasy tropes) and at other times intensely thoughtful (if you don't want to read the book, I recommend you at least read the last two paragraphs). I'd have enjoyed re-reading it several times.

I really liked how we get to spend time with her as a lass, and as grown woman whose children are making their own ways. And I like how every disparate part of her life, even her future adventures, even her housewife years, are considered of value. There's no huge tragedy, and no simple HEA either. Just authenticity about what it can be like to be a fully realized woman.

I love the little bits. In the beginning we're introduced to the typical castle where Kirila lives, and her traditional upbringing: .. in the fall she attended harvest festivals and obligingly gave her autograph to any peasant who happened to ask for it."

And when she's struggling, with her companion, to understand why she didn't like having to kill even though Quests typically involve lots of bloodshed, her companion gets her to admit in so many words that her Quest is To Find the Heart of the World, and not to slay dragons & ogres. He admonishes: "What doesn't fit, hurts." Good lesson, imo.

And I want to read one of the books they find: Quests: a Longitudinal Field Survey.

And what about this almost offhand comment: "I wonder why it is that misery really does love company. It seems so selfish."

The only thing I didn't like was what seemed like some loose ends, such as the bat and the misty thing in the Wizard's room. Anybody wanna talk about those kinds of details?" ( )

I dearly love Nancy Kress’s novels (if you haven’t read Beggars in Spain RUN and get a copy-RIGHT NOW!), and I really, really wanted to love this - but I just couldn’t finish. It seemed like she was trying too hard to be witty - at times it reminded me of The Phantom Tollbooth. But, unfortunately, I found myself not really caring about Kirila and Chessie, and had to admit I didn’t want to read any more. ( )

The unusual path of the quest was great, and very timely for me to reflect on. ( )