Teresa Edgerton

All the usual plot devices are here: the young wizard wannabe, the dashing knight, the evil princess, a forsaken birthright... But Edgerton's very loose retelling of the King Arthur saga somehow still seems fresh and dynamic. I just wish she'd ease up on the faux Celtic names because after a while all I see is Tryfnndd Mcgrllwgynnt and Ctsall Morgrgwwdff.

A fun read. Will appeal to those who like fantasies about magic, although this book has a little bit of everything. Goblins, dwarves, pirates, cadavers, and high society. The author's detail for description of place, person, and costume (love the descriptions of dandies) is what draws you in; you get a vivid picture of the world she creates.

The dialog is witty and crisp. The various plot lines converge nicely and you are in for a few surprises. Paranormal books these days are so chock full show more of sex and violence (you can feel the efforts to out-shock the last book) that this was a refreshing break back to the STORY and CHARACTERS. Remember those?

This is a good "fantasy primer." show less

It's so sad that this book is no longer in print, and that only seven people have reviewed it. That means there are A LOT of people out there who have never been introduced to the wonder that is Teresa Edgerton's Lord Skelbrooke!

I don't know how I first heard about these books- I probably saw them on someone's Amazon Listmania list, and then requested them off a bookswap service. But once I started reading Goblin Moon, I was sucked right in.

Is it epic fantasy? Not at all. Is the plot show more twisting and turning and totally compex? Nope. What it is is more of an adventure story than anything else, coupled with romance, science, hilarity and chaos. It is so ovious while reading this book that Edgerton enjoyed writing it. The characters come to life full-blooded, they enjoy living within their pages so very much, that it is impossible to read it and not enjoy their lives as well. Francis Skelbrooke steals every scene in which he appears, and Sera, too, is a heroine I'd love to have as a friend any day.

I highly recommend this book, and its sequel, The Gnome's Engine. Both are superb, and even if I came late to the game, I'm going to be cheering Edgerton on for a long time. show less

Child of Saturn is set elsewhere – almost – and elsewhen, but it's a place and time where there is Christianity (Michelmas and Christmas and All-Hallows, christenings and crucifixes) and something not quite like the faerie that once walked this world (or so they say).

There are some beautifully unique characterizations here. The evil princess, Diaspad, is beautifully evil, not content with following all of the stereotypical paths an attractive wicked woman usually sticks to. Her coterie show more is an assortment of varying strengths, from a vapid son to a maid who might just have a backbone; it's a little scary to think what could have been accomplished by this lot if they were all clever and competent. The king, her half brother, is neither a great ruler nor a terrible one, but a rather capricious mediocre one – such as probably sat on many thrones throughout the centuries. He is, however, possessed of a Diaspad-shaped blind spot, and she has him trained so that he will not hear anything against her. His queen is brave and beleaguered, and not stupid, which is refreshing: so often a lady in her situation takes comfort where she oughtn't, which makes everything worse.

The two main characters acting against this background are the two most unique and fascinating (happily). The king's wizard, Glastyn, disappeared many years ago, leaving his very young and nearly invisible half-trained apprentice Teleri to fill in – which she does when pressured, preferring to remain invisible in her tower trying to complete her education with books that only open when certain circumstances are fulfilled. What she knows she knows, and does, well, but she has no confidence, no security. And to add to her lack of stability, the queen's champion, Ceilyn, intrudes on her life, and he isn't altogether the parfait gentil knight he appears to be and tries so hard to be …

The upshot is that very few characters behave as I expect them to – and in a library full of clichés and well-filled pigeonholes, that's tremendous. The writing is superb; the plot is engaging; the characters live and breathe. Wonderful stuff, not to be missed. show less