So far my least favorite of the 9 worlds books, and to me it felt early. So I think I might have enjoyed it more had I encountered it sooner, because I don't think it has the polish and the joy of her later works. I am fascinated at how her mind weaves Earth in, and glad to learn more of any of these stories. It just felt overly literary. ( )

We start almost at the end of a millennia old game of which only hints of the play are ever given, but what's important is how the seemingly coincidental events scant days before the final duel effect its conclusion and the inner life of the main character. Goddard seems to like dealing with the fallout of major events rather than the lead up.
This is included in The Nine Worlds series, but a detail or two of the timeline (I know!) seem too skewed to quite fit. And I can't say I was pleased with the given explanation of the fall of Astandalas. ( )

Oh. I had not realized that Ysthar was Earth. Fascinating! The "real world" and the Border-crossing magic and a whole tangle of other races and a fierce competition that...doesn't end the way it's supposed to. And that's not the end of the story, it's only a sub-climax...Rich and weird and this will definitely reward rereading.
Reread (same year, sheesh). It's still a weirdly scattered tale - links back and forward. And even though I now know about their parentage, I still almost missed it - not surprised I never noticed the first time I read. Very rich, though. I was surprised that the "final battle" was barely halfway through the book - but then, that's hardly the point of the story. It was somewhat amusing when no one had noticed it happened, but again that's what was intended. Watching Raphael come back to himself - and more - that was very good. Though I'm wondering how she's going to react, if she really doesn't remember him at all - like the Harvester, he's fulfilling a dream and she's being chased by some strange man. Hope we get that story, or at least the story of that story, at some point. ( )

None of the characters in this book are ordinary mortals, although it's set primarily in modern-day London. I particularly enjoyed the quotes (lots of T. S. Eliot and Shakespeare) and references to Greek myths. ( )