A Horsewoman in Godsland

Forest King #2

by Claudia J. Edwards, Nicki Palin (Cover Illustration)

From the author of Taming the Forest King comes an intriguing fantasy about a young woman who challenges a superstitious, male-dominated society. Gifted, bright and determined Adelinda finds herself confronting the Bishop An-Shai and an awesome enemy of mystifying power, battling for her mind, her heart and her cherished freedom.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1987

Reviews

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 sterren - English Ebook

Adelinda travels to the West to train horses and finds that the land is ruled by the black magic of the Church of the Quadrate God.

This book I started and finished in one day. I enjoyed it very much, it was a page turner. Very entertaining.

I rooted for the heroine and I wanted to kill the villian. And oftened wondered why the heroine didn't just kill the villian when the oppurtunity presented itself.

It was a journey back in time, when people spent their free time thinking about the spirits and the spirit world (before tv you just invented your own stories), and when people made a thousands rules for petty everyday things, people made their own life complicated.

I had forgotten what life was like before the current technological age. it was a fun read.

[Deborah Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sad that Claudia Edwards stopped writing. Although I think her handling of issues like feminism and autonomy is occasionally heavy-handed, it's refreshing to see them grappled with. And I like the fact that in this book, the bond between the male and female main characters is strong and important without being romantic or even terribly friendly all the time.

[Misti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m trying to read some of the books that are already sitting on my shelves this year and I tracked down this out of print trilogy from Claudia Edwards 8 or 9 years ago. I enjoyed the other two books but this one was too much for me. The writing isn’t bad and the story could have been interesting if not for the 1980’s weird gender stuff. The corrupt religious guy and the free-spirited woman clash and while Adelinda could have done a few things differently, the bishop was absolutely in the wrong with what he did and to have them kind of end up together in person and kind of be 1 person with the weird dragon spirit stuff is way to much. Just no.

[Cesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book character-wise. I was drawn to the human nature explored in the characters as well as the magic and sorcery in the story. The culture and the landscape of Godsland was also fun to be transported into. There are also concepts of governance and ideas in ways of thinking that are explored which I found interesting. I would have enjoyed more development in the romance area though, but it was fun to read nonetheless. In my own ranking, in terms of fun and romance, this comes second to "Taming the Forest King" among Claudia J. Edwards' books.

[Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Taming the Forest King, I hunted down all of Claudia's books in the hopes they would be as good. While the other two are just as solid, this one is unfortunately not up to par.

The character development is still great and the female character once again is very strong willed and independent to the point of being too much so (notice a theme?). In this book, however, the action and romance plots get left aside for something a bit too brutal on my taste. An-Shai, the main character, wants to dominate Adelinda. Not in one of those "this is slightly sexy" way, but in total, complete, bow-down-to-him domination. He tries to break her mind, to destroy her relationships with her companions, to isolate her, and imprison her. It gets really old after a while, especially when the hints as to the other side of him are random and not balanced. He's just not a good character!

The ending also came out of nowhere. I kept reading in hopes this would get better, it just never happened. Oh well.

[Rhapsody · Rating 1 out of 5]

HUGE disappointment. I loved Edwards' Bright and Shining Tiger, so I immediately purchased her other three books expecting something similarly good. Edwards' style was definitely recognizable in this book what with the horses and the older-than-usual heroine, but the characters were not at all likable or interesting, the world she created wasn't compelling, and the plot really didn't make sense most of the time. Also, as with her other books, she set this one up as though she was planning to write a sequel which never came.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emissaries buy horses and hire a trainer and handlers to transport the animals to another country. Adelinda, the independent, strong-willed, woman is the trainer hired with her crew. She expects to spend some time acquainting the native stable hands with their duties and teaching equitation as needed then when the seas open to return to her home.
The Church of the Quadrate God rules over everyone and expects her to stay. There is a clash of wills that extends from this plane into the overmind.
Sadly this books lacks some of the cohesive characters Edwards other books had.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

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