Caitlin Brennan, Shattered Dance

Shattered Dance

Caitlin Brennan

Luna, Oct 2006, $12.99, 400 pp.

ISBN 037380248V

At the bottom of the Mountain live the horse mages and their horses who are really gods. Valeria is the first female horse mage and one of the most powerful as is her lover First Rider Kerrec. After giving birth to their daughter, Kerrec and Valeria ride to the capital city of Aurelia so the riders and their horses can dance theCoronation dance, a magical spell that shapes the future. Once they arrive in the capital, they sense the foulness of the One God and the Empress falls into the trap of one of her priests.

The Empress is rendered sterile which means that Kerrec's children will be her heir, but first he must marry a noble woman. Although she understands why this has to be, Valeria leaves the city to go to the outlying edge of the empire where the barbarians still rule. The Ard Ri is Euan, the barbarian prince she loved and whose life she saved twice even though she stopped him from toppling the empire. He wants to make her his queen and she agrees not realizing that if she goes through with the marriage she will destroy all she holds dear.

This romantic fantasy will bring tears to the eyes of the audience as two lovers put the needs of the empire before their own desires. Caitlin Brennan has written a fabulous adult fairy tale in which the audience wonders whether hero and heroine will live happily ever after. The characters are well developed and the setting is reminiscent of the Roman Empire with the barbarians at the gates temporarily restrained. SHATTERED DANCE is a very special story and this reviewer hopes there will be more tales starring these remarkable characters. This is one fantasy readers will hate to see end.

Harriet Klausner