Witchdame (edition 1985)

I adored this book back when I read it in high school and college. All these years later, I admit I see more flaws in it: a narrative that staggers between detailed scenes and rushed endings, an abrupt halt at the end of the book, and characters that could be more fully developed. Still, I found myself wishing, like back in high school, that the author had returned to this world and written more stories in it: the hints of an Elven (Roman) past, the mysteries of Faerie (Ireland), and the unresolved tensions between the woodwitches, witchlords, and humans all left me wanting to know more about Englene and its neighbors. ( )

gangly princess comes into her heritage and gets her man, after trials. detailed medieval language. various magical races, of which our heroine is a mixture, plus angels and demons, but no Christianity. seemingly anachronistic sexual mores (not porn). rites involving incest which are forbidden to mere humans.