Re-read this novel a few years ago and still loved it. The beginning, where Ki is climbing up the cliff to exact vengeance on the harpies who murdered her family is absolutely stunning and gut wrenchingly emotional. ( )

The story is told well eliciting emotions and sustaining involvement with the characters. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy novels by Robin Hobb (wink,wink) ( )

One of Robin Hobb's earliest novels. Not as polished as her later ones but you can clearly see her potential especially in her wondrous character development. I will be reading the rest in the series. ( )

I must say, I really enjoyed this. I'm not a big fan of fantasy, but in part because that genre tends to have so many cliches, what with swords & elves & princesses. This is the first of four highly original books, in which humans are just one race among many, and not the primary, and in which males and females are equally free to choose their life calling. I've just started the third, actually, and oh boy are they giving me a lot to think about. Oh, and they're fun reads, too. Plenty of adventure and humor. ( )

I've ordered the next three and I know I'll be going to the P.O. every day to check our box until they come. And I hope they come in order. I read [The Reindeer People] and its sequel, very detailed, very 'real' - only fantasy in so far as it is not our world, no magic in it, not as you find in the [[Robin Hobb]] books. The same is more or less true in this one (there is some telepathy). Ki loses her husband and two children to a harpy, one of the four other "people" who share this world. The harpies fly and have a strong culture of their own, but they also feast on raw, freshly killed meat, including humans. They have an ability that humans crave and some humans have made a pact with them. (To say more would be to spoil.) Ki, who lives on the road, and hauls freight around, is bitter, seeks revenge. Vandien, appears out of nowhere (trying to steal one of her horses) and ends up staying with her, although of course it is quite problematical. The book moves back and forth between her present and her recent past. It is very well done and I enjoyed it very much. **** ( )