Customer Reviews

Bright and Shining Tiger

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Runa's mother was hanged when Runa was twelve for being a witch. Runa spent the next eleven years on the run from those who would do the same to her because of her ability to wield magic. Finally she is caught, imprisoned for five years and then exiled. After two years wandering in the wilderness she enters a green and pleasant land. At this time she is 32, she has never established a home or a lasting relationship of any depth because of the misfortunes in her life.

The story opens with Runa being stalked by a large, invisible beast. When it appears it is a silver striped, sabetooth tiger, longer than Runa's horse. This Silver cat announces that Runa is its "meat" but does not attack her.

Exploring further, Runa discovers a land where the skeletons of the plague dead remain unburied. It is also infested with outlaws. She rescues a young boy whose father has been killed and learns that the land was once under the care of "the Burdened Ones", the Silver Cat Mantic and Margrave. The Margrave was the war leader and hunter, the Mantic a magic wielder. Together they provided protection, sustenance and healing for the "Tiller Folk." But about 150 years earlier the Margrave and Mantic had been deposed and killed in an uprising. Since that time the land had suffered. Anyone who had attempted since then to take over the Castellum where the Burdened ones had ruled has been destroyed by the magical guardians.

Her interest piqued, Runa manages to establish herself in the Castellum and begins to surround herself with the Tiller folk, but she finds herself unable to perform the roles of both the Margrave and the Mantic. The Silver Tiger is the guardian spirit of the land who chooses the Mantic and mMrgrave.

Then, one day, a bearded and braided barbarian, accompanied by a dozen followers pounds at the gate of the Silver cat castellum with the warning that there savage cannibals are coming their way. The savages are being herded their way by the other local leaders because they do not recognize Runa as a proper Mantic despite her possession of two horses and her undoubted skill at sorcery.

This is the story of how Runa and her barbarian come to terms with one another and with the requirments of being burdened by responsibility for other people. From two separate cultures, neither completely understands the other, but they are forced to learn to cooperate and respect one another abilities in order to survive.

This book, despite some small awkwardness in style is definitely a keeper.

I have all of Claudia J. Edwards' books; I love them. I wouldn't trade them for love or money. Her writing is not the tightest, but her characters glow with emotion and determination. Her women, especially, are incredibly strong and capable characters. While hardly flawless, her female character struggle through with grit, and that only makes it better.

Throw in a lot of horses and all i can wonder, repeatedly, is why there isn't any more! I wish there was a way to contact this writer and beg for another book.

An independent but lonely magic-wielding heroine meets a magic tiger who wants her to run his kingdom. Taking on a life of responsibility, heroine finds love and adventure. Magic is similar to Marion Zimmer Bradley's overworld.

This book is one of my favorites that I have ever read. It shows off it's mysitcal abillities without going overboard.

Bringing horses to Godsland, the heroine finds she and her followers almost prisoners of an ambitious priest in the clergy-run system. The book focuses on the clash between the heroine, who has a bitter secret in her past, and the celibate priest-hero, who wants to do good in the world, but is dominating and controlling. Interesting conclusion.