Caught In Crystal - Patricia C. Wrede

Caught In Crystal
Patricia C. Wrede
Open Road
Copyright: 1989 (2011)
Kindle Edition

The amazon.com product description:

In the magical world of Lyra, an innkeeper is forced to confront her darkest secret
For more than a decade, Kayl has run a modest country inn. She opened it with her husband, and they managed it together until a summer illness took him away, leaving her alone with their two children. The three of them get by, living happily together as the years pass, but everything changes the day a sorceress asks for a room.

Her name is Corrana, and by her silver brooch Kayl knows that she is a member of the order of Sisterhood of Stars, a coven of witches that Kayl left after a secret mission went horribly wrong. Kayl is sure that Corrana has come to take her back to the life she had renounced years before. Now, to save her family and her world, she will have to unlock a side of herself that she buried long ago.

Caught In Crystal was offered to me through NetGalley. Now that that's said, on with the review. This is the first book in the series about the world of Lyra. It's also an edited re-print, IIRC. One of the neatest things I found in this edition was the preface, where Patricia C. Wrede discusses the process of writing, and also how she rewrote the first chapter of Shadow Magic, another of her Lyra novels, and one that I've read. Basically, the chapter is there, in it's original form, with the new version marked, and some explanation of why she made the changes she did. I found it fascinating.

Caught In Crystal flowed, grabbing me each time I started to read it - and that was when I was in front of my computer, reading through Adobe Digital Editions. Not my favourite method. Despite that, I found that I couldn't put the book 'down' as it were, and had to keep reading, especially as I came towards the end of the story.

Patricia Wrede has created a very intriguing world with Lyra - multiple races living together, not always in harmony and some intriguing forms of magic, all blend with a sense of history that left me wanting to read more. Caught In Crystal is set fairly early in that history, giving the background that I wanted back when I was reading Shadow Magic.

Definitely a book I'm going to recommend.