Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Ace (1995), Mass Market Paperback, 200 pages
Description
From the national bestselling author of The Samaria Trilogy...this is the novel that launched Sharon Shinn's career and inspired Peter S. Beagle to call her "the most original writer of fantasy since Robin McKinley." Aubrey was a student of the fine art of wizardry. But the more knowledge he acquired, the more he wanted to learn. He traveled in search of the greatest master of all, the gifted shape-changer Glyrenden. From him, Aubrey expected to discover the secret of long-lost spells and the mysteries of arcane magic. But there was one discovery he never expected, a mystery he risked every thing to solve. Her name was Lilith...
Subjects
Awards
P.E.A.R.L. (Hall of Fame — 2005)
IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (Winner — 1996)
Language
Original publication date
1995
Physical description
200 p.; 4.25 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member jshillingford
An excellent, light fantasy novel. The premise is simple - Aubrey goes to Glyrenden the master shapechanger to learn more advanced magic. But the master mage holds dangerous secrets, and his wife is far more than she seems. This story had a great twist at the end when the readers learns the true
Show More
nature of Lilith. I have read many shapeshifter novels, but this is the first to surprise me. Well worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member janemarieprice
This novella was quite enchanting. Plot points are revealed a little at a time so you are figuring out the story as you go and there is no need for large dumps of information on the main characters.
LibraryThing member acommonreader
Very obviously a first book - could have been a good short story. You can see definite potential in the writer, though.
LibraryThing member krisiti
What an almost perfect little book. The ending though, or rather the epilogue: it was though she could not forgoe the happy romance-novel finish, or the chance of it. She left an alternative, but that was believing Lilith burned in the fire, in the Grove, so carefully guarded. At least she did not
Show More
let Aubrey overpersuade Lilith. That would have diluted the story unbearably.The first time I've seen a good portrayal of a good wizard, a happy-in-magic wizard: some real sense of joy in his abilities, even if they have a dark side. And contrasted was Gyrenden's very unpretentious, low key, comprehensive evil. He wasn't a threat to the world, probably a benefit to the realm overall given the services he did for the king. I don't think he even indulged in mass murder, and when he coerced the coach-driver, it was just to make the man finish his job, and he paid him extra. And he tortured animals, of course. Show Less
LibraryThing member iayork
A little mystery with a dash of fantasy: I have read everything Sharon Shinn has written. In some cases twice. I was dying to get a hold of her first novel, The Shape-Changer's Wife. How could I pass it up? The hero is a young apprentice wizard who is sent by his mentor to study with the powerful
Show More
wizard, Glyrenden. Lilith is his wife. A mystery all her own. Aubrey is determined to figure out who she is...or more to the point...what she is. If you enjoy this book, this is a great jumping off point for any of Sharon's other books. I love her imaginative way describing her characters. You get a real sense of who they are and connect with them. I am glad I discovered Sharon Shinn quite by accident. Show Less
LibraryThing member seekingflight
Quite a nice little story about a magician’s apprentice, the secret he discovers in the magician's household, and his attempt to put things right. A pleasant enough read, not particularly memorable.
LibraryThing member love2laf
Such a short book, but so well written and told. Even more delightful, it's a stand-alone book. Shinn has such a way of painting her story with words, it feels like it bypasses the eyes, and goes directly to the brain, without reading at all.
LibraryThing member crystalcarroll
A young wizard, Aubrey, is apprenticed to a master shape changer, but gradually comes to see shape of things for himself.
The mystery here is a bit more serpentine that in the Treasure, but this is also a perfect book to greet spring.
There’s an insidious pull to the shapechanger, Glyrenden’s
Aubrey’s journey into becoming himself and learning the price of knowledge is exactly what I would expect from Shinn. Complex, luminous, brilliant.
The mystery here is a bit more serpentine that in the Treasure, but this is also a perfect book to greet spring.
There’s an insidious pull to the shapechanger, Glyrenden’s
Show More
evil. The subtle horror of forcing things from their natural design. Imposing one’s will on the heart of things for amusement.Aubrey’s journey into becoming himself and learning the price of knowledge is exactly what I would expect from Shinn. Complex, luminous, brilliant.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Krumbs
Lovely book. Very much in her style of the Truth Teller's Tale, etc. It only took me about an hour to read, but I was very sorry to finish it so quickly!
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
I *thought* this book was part of the same series as 'The Truth-Teller's Tale' and 'The Safe-Keeper's Secret.' (I dunno, something about the title?)
Anyway, it's not. Although I loved those other 2 books, I think I liked this one even more than either. I was surprised to read here that it was
A young apprentice wizard is sent by his master to study with the famed wizard Glyrenden. Glyrenden has a mixed reputation, at best, but he's also powerful and knowledgable - and the only adept to have mastered the art of shapechanging. However, he's also odd and prickly - and his household is even odder, consisting of his beautiful but strange wife, and two peculiar servants, one of whom is mute and the other of whom seems to have some kind of OCD disorder. Left alone with her at length, the young man finds himself drawn to his new teacher's wife like a moth to a flame...
This isn't one of those stories where the secrets are revealed to much shock and surprise. Rather, it's a fairytale where everything unfolds just as it ought to. It's a lovely, satisfying story.
Recommended for fans of Patricia McKillip, as well as Shinn's own fans, of course.
Anyway, it's not. Although I loved those other 2 books, I think I liked this one even more than either. I was surprised to read here that it was
Show More
actually Shinn's first novel, because it didn't read like a freshman effort at all. The language was gorgeous, and the plot flowed smoothly and beautifully.A young apprentice wizard is sent by his master to study with the famed wizard Glyrenden. Glyrenden has a mixed reputation, at best, but he's also powerful and knowledgable - and the only adept to have mastered the art of shapechanging. However, he's also odd and prickly - and his household is even odder, consisting of his beautiful but strange wife, and two peculiar servants, one of whom is mute and the other of whom seems to have some kind of OCD disorder. Left alone with her at length, the young man finds himself drawn to his new teacher's wife like a moth to a flame...
This isn't one of those stories where the secrets are revealed to much shock and surprise. Rather, it's a fairytale where everything unfolds just as it ought to. It's a lovely, satisfying story.
Recommended for fans of Patricia McKillip, as well as Shinn's own fans, of course.
Show Less
LibraryThing member nkmunn
The settings are not fully realized, nor are the inner-lives of the main characters (who are more or less vehicles for the plot which is one of unfolding awareness and reaction), yet the pages keep turning and the story keeps moving on and the reader is rewarded.
As YA, this story is likely a good
As YA, this story is likely a good
Show More
one for learning how to read archetypes and discover literary devices, it is a very unapologetic, baldfaced, straightforward fantasy read. The structure is perfect, the plot unfolds methodically making reading the book like driving a familiar winding road for experienced readers or a great first curvy, hilly road for fantasy readers just getting started. This book will reward them both with a destination worth reaching. Show Less
LibraryThing member humouress
This is a gentle story, but well thought out.
Aubrey, having learned from the great wizard Cyril all that he can of magic, is now to be apprenticed to Glyrenden because he has a desire to learn the art of transmogrification, and the court magician is a powerful shape-changer. However, Cyril warns
When he arrives at Glyrenden's house, Aubrey finds the occupants are a strange lot who don't welcome him, though they are not openly hostile. Glyrenden himself is an enigma, and there is some unspoken secret at the heart of the household.
Though Glyrenden neglects his wife, Aubrey comes to admire her dignity and cool aloofness - but it seems as though there is some danger in that.
I found this book (Sharon Shinn's debut, I believe) nicely written. There are no action sequences or great dramas, but there is a sense of hidden threat
3.5 stars
Aubrey, having learned from the great wizard Cyril all that he can of magic, is now to be apprenticed to Glyrenden because he has a desire to learn the art of transmogrification, and the court magician is a powerful shape-changer. However, Cyril warns
Show More
Aubrey to be on his guard against him.When he arrives at Glyrenden's house, Aubrey finds the occupants are a strange lot who don't welcome him, though they are not openly hostile. Glyrenden himself is an enigma, and there is some unspoken secret at the heart of the household.
Though Glyrenden neglects his wife, Aubrey comes to admire her dignity and cool aloofness - but it seems as though there is some danger in that.
I found this book (Sharon Shinn's debut, I believe) nicely written. There are no action sequences or great dramas, but there is a sense of hidden threat
3.5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Aubrey comes as a pupil to Glyrenden to learn the arts of shape changing and in this house he meets some very strange people. Lilith is known as the shape-changer's wife but Aubrey find himself slowly falling for her. Their intertwined lives will change them both.
Interesting and very satisfying.
Interesting and very satisfying.
Similar in this library
Pages
200