false 2445907 1 <B>Mage Heart</B>'s narrator is a young woman taught magery in a patriarchal culture which (of course) doesn't permit women to be mages. Routley's fantasy-Renaissance-and-magery plot questions our expectations of romance and fantasy stereotypes, and her portrayals of Dorian and the people around her---friend and foe alike---have more depth than many established writers'. The center of the story is Dorian's inner struggle to reconcile her experiences and her training, and the unified resolution of the action and Dorian's conflicts is satisfying. Like all first novels, this standalone has rough spots, but they're forgivable in such a good story. 2453101 7 1996 Mage Heart total:1|3:1| 1 3 1 0 2445907 0688147771 9780688147778 1 0 3.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2445907.Mage_Heart 3 0 false Wed Aug 13 20:35:04 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 20:35:15 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2445907