Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Riverdale, N.Y. : Baen, 1994, c1993.
Description
The queen of Mazonia challenges her magically talented rival, Xylina, to undertake a dangerous quest in search of a powerful shard of crystal, in this story for mature readers.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jshillingford
Too bad this is out of print, because it had a great twist on the cliche amazon-type story with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Mazonia is a matriarchy. Only women can command magic, and the most powerful of them rules. Men are slaves. Xylina is very poor and fearful of her upcoming Rite of Passage
A good story, with an interesting concept and fun characters. It's a little cheesy at time, but not every book needs to be "deep!" Recommended.
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wherein she must battle a gladiator in the arena. Yet, she is victorious, winning the slave as her own, but she also attracts and unknown enemy. Xylina takes the unusual step of befriending her slave. It is their unlikely destiny to free male slaves and change the fabric of Mazonia forever. A good story, with an interesting concept and fun characters. It's a little cheesy at time, but not every book needs to be "deep!" Recommended.
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LibraryThing member vrsteffen
I found this book to be very original, my poor copy is slightly the worse for all the times I've read it. The main character is poor, due to what she thinks is a curse. As her life falls to ruin she is offered a loan by a demon. In an attempt to pay her dept she takes a mission given to her by the
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queen, accompanied by the demon. Show Less
LibraryThing member twilightlost
This is one of my favourite stand-alone fantasy stories, told by two outstanding fantasy authors. If you enjoy either of their other works and you can get your hands on a copy of If I Pay Thee Not In Gold, I highly recommend clearing a few hours in your schedule and diving in.
LibraryThing member phaidra-jade
This is definitely one of my all time favorite books by two of my favorite authors. Its a shame that this is out of print though. The story is very original with fun characters and an engaging plot.
LibraryThing member midkid88
I received this book for a Christmas gift when I was in junior high and have read it multiple times. It is a fun book that gives women the power and makes the men subservient. Most of the book takes place of over a quest for a crystal shard that has a will of its own. As you read you fall in love
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with the characters and wish you had the same ability at magic as the main character. I would recommend it for the reader who likes some adventure with a bit of romance thrown in. Show Less
LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
One hopes that the main characters manage to create a better society than those they are escaping. That hope (and knowing that they want to try) is the only thing that redeems this book.
LibraryThing member Alexiea
The premise of the book is that women are in charge and men are their slaves. This state of events has come about because women have magical power. The story follows a group questing for a crystal shard that when retrieved will change the balance of power in the city as the magic will go to a
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different unknown group. This is a great set-up but has little follow through in the novel. Instead the story becomes bogged down in a rather ridiculous subplot involving a sex-changing demon and the original quest is abandoned. Show Less
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
The Piers Anthony bad-touch is strong in this one, but I love the title!
LibraryThing member madam_razz
This was a good book and I really enjoyed it. Enough to recommend it to a very good friend of mine. The characters are engaging and the world in which they live is very intriguing. I just haven't seen very many books set in a world that belongs almost exclusively, if not truly exclusively, to
I would definitely recommend this book, especially to young women. I'd caution that there is gender-specific slavery, discrimination, reversed gender roles, nudity and sex in the book. The book also heavily considers themes such as outcasts, working to better your situation in life, forbidden love, and the corruption of power.
Another thing that I'd caution in this book is that it's by two authors. Usually, I don't find it a problem when an author decides to collaborate with another and co-author a book. However, in this case I think it seems a detriment to the book. I've never read a co-authored book that made it so strikingly glaring that it was co-authored. About halfway through the book there's a very, very noticeable change. All of the characters change, their personalities are different, the way they interact with and view each other is different, their goals seem to even change. It's as if one of the authors wrote the first half of the book by themselves and then had the second author write the second half of the book nearly blind so that the characters are in the right situations and have the right names and backgrounds, but are still somehow transformed into completely different characters.
It was so striking, in fact, that it completely broke my suspension of disbelief, confused me quite a bit, and then made it difficult for me to get that suspension of disbelief back. I don't think I ever really quite managed to. This is the main reason I've given the book three stars instead of five.
There are demons and other non-human creatures in this book, in case that's something that may make or break the book for you. I will also say that one specific demon that we meet early on plays a significant role in the book and to the heroine as well as to the villain.
It's a good and intriguing book, but definitely not without its faults. I still think it's worth a read and it remains one of my favorite books (especially the first half).
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women.I would definitely recommend this book, especially to young women. I'd caution that there is gender-specific slavery, discrimination, reversed gender roles, nudity and sex in the book. The book also heavily considers themes such as outcasts, working to better your situation in life, forbidden love, and the corruption of power.
Another thing that I'd caution in this book is that it's by two authors. Usually, I don't find it a problem when an author decides to collaborate with another and co-author a book. However, in this case I think it seems a detriment to the book. I've never read a co-authored book that made it so strikingly glaring that it was co-authored. About halfway through the book there's a very, very noticeable change. All of the characters change, their personalities are different, the way they interact with and view each other is different, their goals seem to even change. It's as if one of the authors wrote the first half of the book by themselves and then had the second author write the second half of the book nearly blind so that the characters are in the right situations and have the right names and backgrounds, but are still somehow transformed into completely different characters.
It was so striking, in fact, that it completely broke my suspension of disbelief, confused me quite a bit, and then made it difficult for me to get that suspension of disbelief back. I don't think I ever really quite managed to. This is the main reason I've given the book three stars instead of five.
There are demons and other non-human creatures in this book, in case that's something that may make or break the book for you. I will also say that one specific demon that we meet early on plays a significant role in the book and to the heroine as well as to the villain.
It's a good and intriguing book, but definitely not without its faults. I still think it's worth a read and it remains one of my favorite books (especially the first half).
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Language
Original publication date
1993
Physical description
427 p.; 18 inches
ISBN
0671876236 / 9780671876234