9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Magical Book, August 5, 2001
Reandn is a respected guard in the king's service with a lovely wife and an adopted son. When little boys started disappearing around the castle, Reandn was put in charge of the investigation. Then his son disappeared, followed soon after by his wife. When he finally found out the cause of the disappearances, he was suddenly transported to a far end of the kingdom, by magic. But magic doesn't exist anymore. The unicorns left and took the magic with them when Reandn was just a child. As Reandn tries to make his way back home, he comes across a young woman who believes that the unicorns are going to bring magic back into the world, and she needs to help them. But Reandn knows that magic is harmful and will do whatever he can to stop magic from returning.
Doranna Durgin does not waste a lot of time creating a fantasy world. She dives right into the story, bringing the characters alive and developing the plot. She uses the traditional fantasy world, the medieval type world, and adds magic to it, and then takes it away by removing the unicorns. Durgin's books are not long, and are not exceedingly involved or complicated. She keeps her books simple, and they make for an easy, enjoyable read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book by a great author, June 4, 1999
By A Customer
Reandn's a Wolf, one of the elite group of trackers/soldiers/patrollers, who's put in charge of an investigation concerning the disappearances of two young boys in a time when magic has left the world--or so everyone thinks. Then Reandn's adopted son, Kavan, vanishes, and Reandn's wife Adela is destroyed by the same magic that killed the boys. Reandn, transported to a far distant land by the wizard who killed Adela, Kavan, and the other boys for power, swears revenge on the wizard who destroyed his life. Then he finds out that the very magic that killed his wife and son is going to be brought back into the world...
TOUCHED BY MAGIC is a well-written, tightly crafted novel with fresh, engaging characters and a terrific plot. The author deserves to be placed among such fantasy greats as Mercedes Lackey and David Eddings.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mystery and Vengeance, March 21, 2010
Touched by Magic (1996) is a standalone Fantasy novel. It is set is the Kingdom of Keland. The Highborn have been hunting unicorns, not to kill them, but to capture. Now the unicorns are leaving the world. On their way elsewhere, they encounter Rethia.
In this novel, Rethia is an orphan. She collects herbs and other plants for her foster father. She receives a gift from the departing unicorns.
Reandn is Wolf First at the King's Keep. He leads the night patrol in their search for poachers, bandits and other lawbreakers.
Adela is Reandn's wife. She is overseer of the tower for Ronsin. She is also a low-level trainer for the mounts of the Wolf patrol leaders.
Kavan is a child assigned as the apprentice for Ronsin. Very shy and homesick when he first arrived, Adela took over his supervision. He soon became a foster son to Adela and Reandn.
Saxe is the Wolf Leader. He had been Reandn's partner before his promotion.
Ronsin is the King's Wizard. Of course, there has not been any magic for the past seventeen years, so his position is a sinecure.
Farran is a former wizard who now lives in Maurant. He makes a living as a tailor.
In this story, Reandn is searching for a lost fosterling. The boy had ridden out on his pony hunting for unicorns. He had never come back from his hunt.
Following the tracks, Reandn finds where the boy had been met by a man. Then the tracks became muddled, so disturbed that he could no longer follow the tracks. Obviously the boy is gone and is probably dead.
Reandn heads back to the keep to inform Saxe. The Wolf Leader sends the best tracker at the keep to check the ground. Then Reandn goes to his room to get some sleep before he has to go on patrol.
He is experiencing a low hum and a bit of confusion. Later he becomes dizzy and falls to his knees. Something is effecting his mind.
The loss of the fosterling upsets the Highborns of remote Resiores. Then a kitchen boy disappears and the body is never recovered. Then Kavan vanishes. Something mysterious is happening at the keep and the people are afraid.
Adela believes that Ronsin is recovering his magic. Naturally Reandn doesn't accept her accounts. Magic is gone and will never come back.
Later a friend of Adela disappears. Reandn tells Adela, who is very upset. Then Reandn finds Adela frozen within the wizard's room. He is also having a powerful dizzy spell.
Adela slowly fades away. Reandn tries to stab Ronsin, but is overcome by noise and dizziness. Then he finds himself elsewhere.
This tale takes Reandn in a heartbeat to Maurant, a city far to the south on the coastline. He meets many people there, including Farran. He is told that he was translocated from the Keep.
Reandn doesn't trust anybody in Maurant, especially Farran. He has to get back to the King's Keep to administer Wolf's Justice to Ronsin before he kills again. But he can't let the news of his survival warn the wizard, so he has to get a horse and supplies while keeping his identity secret.
Later Reandn meets Rethia. She seems to have a magical touch.
The author has written some very intriguing fantasies, including the
Dun Lady's Jess series. Unfortunately, she had since gone into other genres. But her older works are well worth reading.
The sequel to this novel is
Wolf Justice. Read and enjoy!
Highly recommended for Durgin fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of lost magic, disrupted kingdoms, and a determined peacekeeper.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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