by Alison Croggin

Has anyone else read this series? Excluding the fact that some of it seemed slighty Lord of the Rings-ish (including the name), they were pretty good.

My favorite thing about the series was the characters. All of them were very realistic and unique. The main character, Maerad, annoyed me sometimes, but it was because her personality was worked out so well.

The only thing I did not like about the books is that they had a Force-like magic in them. When Maerad is being trained throughout the series, her mentor constantly talks about the "balance" between good and evil, and how Maerad cannot fully come into her power without embracing the evil along with the good. Thankfully, they don't spend a lot of time on that.

There are four books, and the third one was my personal favorite. Even though I enjoyed reading them, I would probably only recommend them to my strong Christian friends, because there are some confusing grey areas in them.

So, has anyone else read these or heard of them?

I've HEARD of them. What's the basic plot conflict?

Ummm... it's kind of complicated, but, basically, it's about a girl who is the "chosen one" (I know, it's cliché!) to save the whole world from a great big evil guy. She starts out as a slave girl, and, as the series goes on, she becomes more and more powerful. Also, she is really bothered by her power.

That's the basic conflict, anyway. There is a lot more stuff going on, though. A whole book (my favorite) is devoted to her brother, too.