The Empire of the Stars
Alison Baird
Aspect, Nov 2004, $13.95, 392 pp.
ISBN 0446690961

Ailia lived on Mera for seventeen years, never realizing that her mother took her from her home planet Arainia to escape enemies that would kill her before she fulfilled her destiny. Before she left for her home planet, she thwarted Mandrake the shapeshifting dragon and took the Star Stone with her. Most of the Arainia populace sees her as the Tryna Lia, who is fated to rid the worlds of the Celestial Empire of evil. Her tutors teach Ailia how to use her untapped powers, although she is content to be an ordinary woman, not a near-deity that people revere and fear.

On her birthday, Khalazar, a minion of Mandrake though he is unaware of that, sends Ailia a message that he is coming to destroy her. The Tryna Lia is sent into hiding but one of her inner circle is a traitor in league with Mandrake. She is taken to the dragon's home world where she finds a way to travel to Nemorah in the hopes that she can stop Mandrake and end his plans for war.

In the beginning of this book Ailia is an unsure, timid maiden afraid of her destiny; by the end, she becomes a warrior, her power fully developed and a champion who is not afraid to fight Mandrake as an equal. Her adventures on her home world, the Dragon's world and Nemorah cause her to grow up fast and take charge of her life. Ironically, readers feel sorry for Mandrake who finds that his dark ways cause the people who truly cared about him to turn their backs on him. Alison Baird's latest work is an enjoyable, entertaining and totally enthralling coming of age fantasy.

Harriet Klausner