North Star

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Synopsis

Her home destroyed, her family slaughtered, the centaur Riyya thought she would never be whole again but destiny intervened when a dying man came upon her refuge and she nursed him back to health. Gaenor is looking for the answer to a mystery rooted in the forgotten history of the world, and he gives Riyya the purpose she so desperately needs. Together, they seek the truth behind a legend long forgotten. As the mystery unravels and the existence of a mythical race of demigods is put to the test, the light of the North Star – the fulfiller of dreams - leads Riyya and Gaenor across the world and seals their destiny. "Wow. For days I have sat with only that word on the paper. Just "Wow." I can't come up with a way to describe North Star that doesn't marginalize the story, the characters and the situations. Saying this is a story about a man who lost his wings and a centaur traveling beyond the boundaries of its world, to search for a lost people, would be like saying Beowulf is about a warrior who fights scary monsters, or that Don Quixote is about a crazy old man who rides around Spain and thinks he is a knight. North Star is so much more. I was spellbound by the text, which is wrapped in a lyrical prose, which sings the grief, love, desire, joy, excitement and fear described by the tale-weaver from the first word. If you enjoy the early classics: The Canterbury Tales, The Song of Roland, The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnel, you will revel in Pacifici's attention to style and storytelling. If you do not normally read fantasy, North Star is a wonderful place to start. There is a link on this page that will take you to an excerpt. After you read those few carefully chosen words, you will not be able to rest until you have read the entire novel, and you will be hard pressed to find a finer exemplar of the genre in any age." ~Beth E. McKenzie for MyShelf Reviews