Elaine Stirling

I would like to say that this book, although really fascinating when it comes down to the basics, takes forever to get started, especially being that there are three different stories that are suppose to be intertwined. Getting past the first few pages was actually harder than I thought, I had to keep on reading sentences, paragraphs, and pages over just to try and understand the life of a 19 year-old queen. That did not even come to compare with the next chapter about a Spanish shaman-like figure who travels with 3 "witches". The problem with his part of the story was that it was so rich in culture, which I'm not saying is bad, but almost none of it was explained thoroughly which makes it really confusing. The last character we read about is in the present day, unlike the other characters who live in the 12th and 20th century. Though it would seem like most people would relate to this modern day woman, the character is a little older than what we would have thought (in her 30's), making her seem as if she is too good for simple tasks that a younger woman would achieve. All of these factors combined made the book really difficult to read without either forgetting some facts or having to reread sections of the book.… (altro)