This is the reissued edition, not the original.

Aralorn is a mercenary, sent to ascertain a potential threat to a charismatic and beloved mage. While in his palace, she uncovers evidence that he is manipulating the emotions of everyone around him to adore him - even as he tortures and kills them. Returning home, however, she finds that the effect has spread. No one will believe her, and worse, friends she's known for years turn on her for daring to criticize the great mage. With the help of an elusive shapeshifter who refuses to show her his true form, she must somehow rally a rebellion to overthrow a tyrant who has already stolen the hearts and minds of the population.

I was already familiar with the world of Sianim from reading Steal the Dragon and When Demons Walk. But each of these books is exploring a different corner of this universe. In Masques the focus is mostly on the neighboring countries of Reth and Danmar and the shapechanging race that hides in Reth's mountains. Aralorn herself is half-shapechanger, meaning she can change herself into a mouse or a goose or just alter the structure of her face and body so that she looks like an entirely different person.

Aralorn is a storyteller at heart, and I love how seamlessly that aspect of her characterization is worked in. The stories she tells don't bog the main plot down. And there are so many little details that combine to form a picture of her - her love of information led to her becoming a spy and is shown later when she catalogs the differences between this folk tale and the version she heard before; she pauses in the clutches of evil to examine stone carvings and figure out their stories.

One element I do find tiresome is the constant use of rape. In every book by Ms. Briggs you can tell how evil the villain is by the way he molests a helpless slave or child. I wouldn't want to be one of her heroines - even the ones who manage to escape being raped themselves are still threatened with it at some point. Now, she does get points for showing the devastating effects this has on a person's psyche and the slow road to recovery, instead of the magic fix so many authors are fond of. But you could play a drinking game by counting the number of characters who are threatened sexually or the number of times the villain touches someone inappropriately.

The main focus of this story is overthrowing the evil tyrant despite overwhelming odds. But there is a strong subplot with the character of Wolf, a person who prefers the shape of a wolf and even in human form takes care to hide his face. The mysteries of his past and why he's one of the few to believe Aralorn when she speaks against the great mage pique Aralorn's curiosity. There is a mild romance, but mostly the relationship between Wolf and Aralorn is a strong friendship and their need to destroy a common enemy.

Ms. Briggs says in her introduction that she kept elements she would normally discard in order to remain true to the original version. I can definitely see a few tired cliches in these pages. But overall, this story holds up well.