Customer Reviews

Dun Lady's Jess

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book awhile ago, and loved it. Being an animal lover, I appreciated the care with which the author described the horses, and how much personality they had; they were an actual part of the story, rather than just beasts of burden (this is true to one extent or another of all her writing). I also appreciated the fact that while she included a romance, sex wasn't particularly present. I get tired of some fantasy authors who seem to think that if they throw enough sex in, it compensates for lacks such as plot, character development, or action; also authors that just plain write it in all the time. Finally, she had a somewhat original and creative idea; others have written about animals becoming people or vice versa, but none that I've ever read had as much realism in that description, or as much consideration of what that would actually mean for the individual involved (especially if it is an animal becoming human). All in all, I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

I don't think I have ever read a story like this one before--a rare thing in these days of multi volume fantasy series. Dun Lady's Jess is a simple story about a courier's horse. Jess and her rider are on a mission when they are attacked and accidentally transported to our world. Due to the nature of the spell used against them, Jess is turned into a woman while her rider is seperated from her and disorientated.

Jess is found naked and alone by a couple out for the day. They rescue her, take her home, and finally realise they hve something very strange on their hands. Jess meanwhile is having trouble understanding that standing on her hind legs is now allowed (rearing is bad) and that she can talk just like her rider.

All in all, a simple but intensely interesting read. Well worth your moneyu and time.

Mark E. Cooper

I don't normally seek out books about horses, but this novel was really exceptional. I love fantasy, and the truly mystical occurences in this books just served to draw me in more completely. Doranna Durgin also introduced a few fantasy concepts concerning magic that I have never read before, and I was really impressed. If you love fantasy, horses, and really good books, by all means read this!

Dun Lady's Jess (1994) is the first novel by Durgin and is unusually well written for a first work. It is also the first in a series about a horse who becomes a human. Her owner is Arlen of Anfeald, a senior wizard of Camolen, but her master is Carey, head rider of the Anfeald couriers.

Arlen has discovered a spell for crossing over to other dimensions and needs help developing a checkspell to prevent unscrupulous exploitation of other continua. He sends Carey to Sherra, a member of the Wizards Council, with a full report on the new spell. Warning Carey that other wizards know of the new spell, Arlen provides a stone carrying the spell and orders Carey to use it if danger appears.

Carey and Lady are ambushed and Carey is shot with an arrow, pulling Lady hard to the right. As they plunge over a cliff, Carey invokes the spellstone and they go elsewhere.

Lady, transformed to a human, lands in a meadow in Ohio with her tack lying atop and around her. She is found by Eric and Dayna, who take her home with them. Since Jess is new to the human business, she is a strange, possibly crazy, woman. At first she seems to be mute -- after all, horses don't talk -- but soon learns how to make the funny sounds that she has heard all her life. She calls Dayna and Eric by name, and tells them her own, and then goes on a orgy of word learning. When Eric brings in the tack, Jess says the saddlebags belong to Carey. When she identifies herself as a horse, also belonging to Carey whom she has lost and wants to find, they take her to Jaime at the Dancing Equine Dressage Center, where Jess meets Mark, Jaime's brother.

While Eric tries to find Carey by calling nearby hospitals, Jaime questions Jess and then puts her to work in the stables. A stranger shows up looking for a dun mare with black points and identifies himself as Derrick, living at the LK hotel. Jaime notices that the description would match Jess if she was a horse. Moreover, Jess displays an unusual ability in reading horse body language. Jaime is beginning to suspect the unthinkable.

Jaime tells the others about Derrick at the LK hotel, where Dayna and Mark work. Using her passkey, Dayna finds Carey, drugged and helpless, in Derrick's room as well as a bow and quiver of arrows. She is almost caught by Derrick, but escapes and returns to The Dancing to tell of her discovery. They return to the hotel while Mark is on duty and rescue Carey. Then things start to get interesting.

Eventually, Jess, Dayna, Eric, Jaime and Carey cross over to Camolen. They are accidentally accompanied by Ernie, a gunman hired by Derrick, and land in the middle of a siege.

While the novel is fantasy, there are a few points that strain even that loose standard. The spell itself provides the ability to speak English, yet the rapidity with which Jess learns to speak and read is truly fantastic. However, Durgin provides an explanation at the very beginning: the intercontinual transients are connected to their home dimension by a thread of magic that powers any spells invoked in the other continuum. Apparently that also powers magical talents -- such as language learning -- possessed by the travelers.

This is truly a horse lover's fantasy. While very ignorant of horse affairs, I feel that the horsey thinking underlying Jess's personality rings true with my experiences. Durgin really knows her horses.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I ABSOLUTY loved the story, very engaging and powerful. I however didn't like how she wrote in a few spots, and I felt the begining was weak, but the powerful story line mostly made up for that.

Frankly, I was surprised to only find two other reviews for this book. I first read it several years ago and have made Doranna Durgin one of the regular authors I check when entering a book store. This book is not simply for horse-lovers, although that does make it even more appealing. The characters are intriguing--from Jess and her struggles with humanity to Carey and his love of her. Sometimes you want to shake them, sometimes you want to hug them. I was sped along as I read it and couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel. From a first-time fantasy author, Dun Lady's Jess is a solid, enjoyable book suited to readers from all walks of life.

Has to be one of the best of the century!!! Science fiction has seen a new master, watch out Piers Anthony and Roger Zelanzy, Anne McAthrey may have trouble with this one....

This was Doranna Durgin's first published novel, and one of her best. She has subsequently published about ten novels, two of which are direct sequels to this one. The three books stand on their own, but can also be read as a trilogy, which is

Dun Lady's Jess
The Changespell
Changespell Legacy.

A park ranger and his partner find a confused young woman in the woods, naked except for a horse's saddle and harness, and unable to speak. At first they think she is hurt or deranged. This opinion is reinforced when, as they try to communicate with her, she picks up a few words of English and tells them that she is a horse. Little do they know that she has been sent to our world, and transformed into a woman, by a spell gone wrong, and from a magic world where she really is a horse called Dun Lady's Jess. Her struggle to make sense of her new environment is a fascinating story.

Doranna Durgin knows more than a little about horses, and it shows. I found this to be a charming and very enjoyable book, and would particularly recommend it to anyone who loves both fantasy and horses.

It reads like an offering from a far more experienced writer. But then, I expected nothing less, by the time I actually read it. I discovered Doranna Durgin many years ago, but even then, Dun Lady's Jess was already out of print. I finally tracked it down at an online used book store. It was VERY hard to find... apparently, not many people who read it were willing to give it up. That should tell you something. I, myself, couldn't wait for the American edition of the re-issue... I bought the Canadian edition. HUGE thanks to Red Deer Press for reintroducing it!

I have read and enjoyed other fantasies that involved shape-shifting--and I'm looking forward to Durgin's new one in the Silhouette 'Nocturne' line next year. But Dun Lady's Jess is a 'change' fantasy on an entirely different level. As a person, Jess has the instincts and sensibilities of a horse, but has to learn to use her new and expanded human brain power. As a horse, Jess is not a person in a horse's body, she's a horse, confused by the new scope of thought available to her horse's brain. This makes the whole story fascinating on a personal development and characterization level, as well as the actual intriguing plot-line of travel and adventure taking place across two very different dimensions. All the characters benefit from Durgin's talent at characterization, of course--like all her books--but Jess has, and always will have, a special place in my heart. The action ain't bad, either. Durgin excels at pacing a story to keep you turning pages far into the night.

Also recommended: Changespell and Changespell Legacy (Baen Fantasy) continue the story. But I can confidently recommend any book Durgin's written. I've never read one from her I didn't like (and I have them all), no matter what the genre.

Apart from the Harry Potter books, I've read few fantasy novels. My one exception: the books of my friend Doranna Durgin. Of course, as she's been my friend for over 20 years, you can't expect me to be wholly objective in a review. So I'll just tell you what I like about her very first published book, Dun Lady's Jess, which has been reissued in a beautiful new edition by Canadian publisher Red Deer Press.

Beautiful dun mare Lady, and her rider, Cary, are running for their lives when Cary invokes a spell that sends them hurtling to an alternate reality--a reality that does not include magic. Not only that, but Lady has been transformed into a human woman.

She's found by Eric, a kind-hearted environmentalist, and his friend Dayna. They quickly realize that Lady is in a state of mental confusion. Wary about turning her into the authorities, they take her to Dayna's home to try to figure out what to do next.

They meet up with their friends Jaime, who owns a horse training facility, and her brother Mark. And when Carey shows up--that's when the fun begins.

This book has everything I look for in great storytelling: endearing friendships, action, adventure; suspense, thrills and fun. I'm not kidding when I say it'll make you laugh and cry.

There's a reason this book won the Compton Crook Award, and it's hard to believe this could be someone's first book because Doranna got everything right. The characterization, the action, and most importantly, the mindset of Dun Lady's Jess--a horse changed by magic into a woman.

Read it. You'll love it, too.