I somehow lost track of reading Sherwood Smith after a binge a few years ago and am delighted to discover how many stories I haven't read yet. This one reminds me a bit of Tamora Pierce's Circle or Magic (one of my all time favorite series), or maybe Dealing with Dragons -- in any case -- it reminds me of favorite books for your magic seekers. Great characters, great quest, new and interesting world, satisfying storyline. There's a little bit too much deus ex machina that occurs, but in a way I like it because I think it links to a larger storyline, and I am very much interested to see where stubborn, loyal, pragmatic Wren ends up next. ( )

Not bad, not great. I like Wren, but there's an awful lot of very convenient special powers here - and the mage (apprentice) is the weakest of the lot. There's also a lot of secret guiding and watching-over - their quest would have failed, several times over, without that secret help. And the solution to the disaster turns into the solution to the quest - if Wren had been herself, they would never have been able to escape. As I said, very convenient. I probably will read the sequels, but I'm not excited to do so. ( )

Wren is a young orphan whose bff Tess confesses that far from being an orphan too, she's actually their country's princess. The time has come for Tess to stop hiding from her parents' enemies, and she takes Wren along to the palace for courage and companionship. Once there, they see the king and queen--but Tess is abruptly kidnapped! While the powerful nobility gather their forces for war, Wren slips away unnoticed to mount her own rescue attempt. She is quickly joined by two Mage prentices, who have secrets and causes of their own. The three young would-be-heroes undertake the quest together.

The plot itself is fairly simple and straightforward. It's the characterization that shines here. Wren is the very definition of "pluck": stalwart and true to her friends, always resourceful and cheerful. Far too many fantasy novels [i]tell[/i] us that the companions become friends, but this quest showcases their growing trust and friendship. And I 100% bought that Tess and Wren had been friends since infancy, from their in-jokes to their rock-hard belief in each other.

This is a really sweet fantasy novel, particularly for tweens. There's no forced romance, but there's loads of believable, heartfelt friendships and low-key heroism. ( )

Campy, yet fun. It took a while for this book to build momentum, and sometimes doubted the choice to switch POVs, but the ride was enjoyable once it got going. The ending, however, felt anticlimactic, particularly when the last problem solved itself. ( )

A fairly simple read and a semi-classic fantasy. Prisoner taken, questors head off to the big-bad fortress to rescue said prisoner. But still, it was a fun, and fairly light read. The children were a bit younger than I expected, but they came across well enough to be able to handle the adventure, and when the main character gets shape-changed things take an interesting little twist. Good ending, and all comes right, as a proper story should. Nothing to heavy or dark in the story, so it was quite enjoyable for a light read. I did find the 'modern' speech of the children a little bit odd, given the 'medieval' type world they were in, but it did make it easier to follow rather than stiff speech that one might otherwise expect. ( )