This is an annoying book. It's not really very well written - highly awkward dialog, motivations fuzzy (or overly simplistic), setting unclear, adventures odd and fairy-tale like (that is, things happen for very unclear reasons and everyone just accepts them). It also reads (I do not know the author's actual religious convictions) like a deeply religious book written by an agnostic or even atheist. A lot of those fuzzy and simplistic motivations are 'religious', without much real feeling behind them. And yet I've reread it at least 5 or 6 times, culled it from my library and re-bought it, remember it fondly...and I don't know why! This time was triggered by someone asking for it in Name That Book. ( )