The Season of Silver This book, that takes you to the spot where part one left off and yet no time seems to have pass when you enter its pages again, is indeed a rare treasure.

Ms. McGathy offers a story told in a way that brings to mind the way stories were meant to be expressed: by a master storyteller. Yet she is able to present this in the form of the written word. A feat not easily accomplished for what is written is not always conveyed well orally and vice versa. But here you feel as if you are the old man (the story teller), and alternately also the attendant to his circle of listeners. As for who the storyteller is… Ah, but that is a treat you must discover on your own.

So what goes on in these pages I loftily praise? In Book one, a Kingdom is destroyed, and the sole survivors are an infant, and a soldier suddenly told he must raise this child. Kept in a place away from the world and hidden in magic, there are only the two of them. Yet there is one other person who seems to be linked to them, by some way of magic through a simple pond. They end up meeting one another and must go on a quest; one where neither one is really sure what they are looking for.

Book Two has them landing in different places, and in different times but all linked to the quest. Bit by bit they find them selves back together and slowly they are able, like a huge puzzle, to put things together. Will they all work together, or will the risk of possible loss of friends caused splinters and heroics instead?

There are the standard expectations of fantasy and will not disappoint. Elves, swords, magic, hidden kingdoms, magical creatures of all types, and dangers around every corner abound. Yet it is presented in a way that is new and refreshing. I feel as if I am discovering fantasy anew. There is not just one quest but numerous ones, by multiple characters. Yet there is no confusion as to who is whom.

If I were to have any complaints, it is that I wish things were described a bit more richly and the story a bit longer, so I need not leave that world so soon. The Season of Silver is a wonderful read

Reviewed by Nancy Louise
© December 2006