Green Rider
(The Green Rider series, Book 1)
Kristen Britain
DAW
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Karigan G'Ladheon, daughter of a wealthy merchant clan, ran away from the prestigious school at Selium after a fight with a nobleman's son led to her unfair expulsion. She worries about how to face her father even as she rankles at the injustice... until a dying man on a winded horse stumbles across her path. He is a Green Rider, a messenger for the king of Sacoridia, and with his dying breath he extracts Karigan's oath to deliver the message in his saddlebag, unopened, to King Zachary without delay. He also warns of great danger, but the black arrows in his back take his life before he can explain more. Though no Green Rider herself, Karigan wouldn't be her father's daughter if she took oaths lightly, and she's as loyal to the crown as any good citizen. Reluctantly, she climbs into the saddle on the man's horse - and into a wild and dangerous adventure. Dark and ancient evils are afoot in the land, and the message Karigan bears may mean the difference between life and death... not just for King Zachary and Sacoridia, but for the known world and beyond.
REVIEW: Karigan's adventures start nearly on the first page, and don't let up until the very end. If the story sags now and again, Britain's world was interesting enough to keep me reading until it picked up again, which it invariably did. Once in a while, Karigan's stubborn refusal to accept the obvious got irritating, but on the whole she proved a reliable, strong heroine. Some loose ends are left dangling at the end of the book, but the main plot wraps itself up with an appropriately spellbinding conclusion. Amazon claims that there are more books in the series available; I expect I'll end up tracking down the next one someday to see how Karigan fares. All in all, an enjoyable read.
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