Season of Sacrifice

by Mindy Klasky

When two children from her village are kidnapped in the middle of a local spring festival, Alana Woodsinger must use her powerful connection to the village's Great Tree to help rescuers locate the youngsters, who themselves do not wish to be saved. Original.

Genres: Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Mindy Klasky learned to read when her parents shoved a book in her hands and told her that she could travel anywhere in the world through stories. She never forgot that advice.

Mindy's travels took her through multiple careers, including copyright lawyer and law librarian. Mindy now writes full time. Her books fall in a number of genres -- including romantic comedies, paranormal romance, and traditional fantasy.

In her spare time, Mindy knits, quilts, and tries to tame the endless to-be-read shelf in her home library. Her husband and two cats do their best to fill the left-over minutes in her days.

Reviews

[Doc Opp · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've liked other books by this author, so I was excited to see this on sale at Friends of the library for a dollar. But after reading it - or attempting to read it anyway - I can see why it was on slash sale. This has none of the charm or cleverness of her other work. I gave up on it at chapter 4 - the writing was stilted, the characters annoying, and there was soooo much exposition - all telling instead of showing.

The world building was pretty good, and I could see a story set in that culture being interesting, but sadly this plot, and these characters, did not bring this book to life at all. I'd give Klasky another try, on the basis of some her other novels, but I'd steer people away from this one.

[Ahw · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't a horrible story ... which doesn't sound like high praise so I guess I should point out the good things. I kept reading it and I looked forward to reading it. While there was a lot of predictability in a fantasy novel about the female shaman connecting with the "Great Mother" through the "mystical tree". There was also some unpredictability and distinct characters. Some of the plot seemed to grate on me as unbelievable but if I got past those various points I found myself caring about the events.

So if you want simple fantasy novel you won't go wrong with this one.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reluctant to accept her choosing as Woodsinger by the Guardians, Alana must lead three villagers in search of their kidnapped children.

[Corinne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Arggghh....another absolutely predictable fantasy story were at the end the heroine learns more about her magical abilities and her feelings and gets the hero she was in the love with from the beginning. The notorious rival in love sacrifices his life for her and her task and thus is out of the picture/book. A classical example of archetypical fantasy! At least the original fantasy novel f.e. the "Mars" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs is funny - this one isn't at all!

[Jami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot: 3 stars
Characters: 3 stars
Style: 3 1/2 stars
Pace: 3 stars

I wanted to like this one more than I did. It did help pass a very slow work day, after all. But I found it predictable and sometimes silly. The enemies were all very flat, with no more motive than "power". The kids were handled well though, which is hard to do, and I liked parts of the worldbuilding.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters were mostly stereotypes and the plot was predictable but it was a good story with some innovative twists. The sacrifices of Alana Woodsinger, the Tree, Landon, and even Jobina and Maddock anchored the story.

[Gary Barrentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My facebook page has been compromised so I'm leaving this message saying it was a good two year run.
I'm locked out and this was the only way.