Goblin Moon
Candace Sams
ImaJinn, 2005
ISBN: 1893896455

Eight years ago calamity devastated the Goblin race. Now there are only forty-six survivors left with no newborn surviving twenty-fours since the calamity struck. Goblin leader Tearach Bruce is despondent as he watches hopelessly the looming extinction. Medical science has failed; their last fading hope lies with the Druid Sorceress Shayla, who concludes species Goblin will be eradicated unless Tearach returns hope to his beleaguered people by siring a newborn. Tearach sees nothing new in that declaration, but figuratively stops breathing when Shayla suggests mating with the hated humans.

Setting his loathing aside for the better good, Tearach's loyal followers abduct former firefighter Kathleen Parker, still in mourning from recent losses of loved ones, while she is on morning run. She has vowed never to love again because the heart takes too big a battering from that unwanted emotion. Tearach does not desire love with a human; he just needs to mate with her. Neither expected to find strong feelings with the other, but a species is at stake. Can they collaborate on the future though their cultures see the world so differently?

The fourth Tales of the Moon novel, GOBLIN MOON, is a terrific fantasy starring two star-crossed individuals who clash on everything as each perceives, ponders, and deduces from the same information different results and outcomes than the other yet fall in love. The comparative cultural anthropological disparities between humans and Goblins seem so genuine that readers will believe in the existence of magical creatures at least when entering the charming Sams' universe. Newcomers can start here as this novel stands alone, but well written references to the previous books will send the audience seeking them too as GOBLIN MOON is a wonderful tale

Harriet Klausner