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Loading... The Jargoon Pard (original 1974; edition 1980)| 574 | 9 | 41,444 | 
(3.69) | 10 | Fantasy.
Fiction.
HTML: A young heir is drawn into a labyrinth of deception, death, and magical destiny in this bold adventure in the bestselling Witch World series.
Kethan is heir to the throne of Car Do Prawn in the realm of Arvonâ??but there is little he has to be proud of. He can sense trouble brewing amongst the people. And he can feel the weight of those who wish to bend his will to their own. From his overbearing mother, the Lady Heroise, and her duplicitous Wise Woman, Ursilla, to his vindictive cousin, Maughus, they all want to rule through him when he comes of age.
But his attention is turned from such palace intrigues when a strange traveler gifts him a belt of leopard skin embossed with a stoneâ??a jargoonâ??carved in the shape of a predatory snow cat.
At first, the belt intrigues Kethan. Then it entrances him, for it possesses great magical powersâ??and it is up to Kethan to learn how to control them. He will need to tread a crooked path between good and evil if he is to retain his soul even as his body transforms into a form more lethal than anything he's ever dreamed… (more) |
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Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. Acknowledgments
The author wishes to express her appreciation for the aid rendered on two technical matters connected with this book.
First to Mrs. Merrill Gladstone of the "Rock Pile" who produced a jargoon and also the information concerning the finding of such semiprecious stones, their weight, color and the like.
Second to Mrs. Phyllis Schlemmer, the sensitive, who demonstrated the various forms of tarot and then worked out the proper horoscope tarot reading for Kethan.  | |
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Many are the chronicles of Arvon, for that is a land old beyond the imaginings of men, even though those men may be born of the Elder Races and, therefore, long in their own lives. Car Do Prawn was not the greatest of the Keeps that gave allegiance to the Red Mantle Overlord, nor the richest. | |
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Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions Fantasy.
Fiction.
HTML: A young heir is drawn into a labyrinth of deception, death, and magical destiny in this bold adventure in the bestselling Witch World series.
Kethan is heir to the throne of Car Do Prawn in the realm of Arvonâ??but there is little he has to be proud of. He can sense trouble brewing amongst the people. And he can feel the weight of those who wish to bend his will to their own. From his overbearing mother, the Lady Heroise, and her duplicitous Wise Woman, Ursilla, to his vindictive cousin, Maughus, they all want to rule through him when he comes of age.
But his attention is turned from such palace intrigues when a strange traveler gifts him a belt of leopard skin embossed with a stoneâ??a jargoonâ??carved in the shape of a predatory snow cat.
At first, the belt intrigues Kethan. Then it entrances him, for it possesses great magical powersâ??and it is up to Kethan to learn how to control them. He will need to tread a crooked path between good and evil if he is to retain his soul even as his body transforms into a form more lethal than anything he's ever dreamed ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
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THE SHAPE-CHANGER
I lifted my head. My position seemed awkward. I could see only at an angle. But - I was on my hands and knees - no! I was - on four padded paws, wearing a body covered in light golden fur. I opened my mouth to dry out, but what issued form my jaws was a heavy half-grunt, half-growl sound ...
He was called Kethan and the secret of his birth had been hidden - until now. He had been chosen [actually born] to lead the great house of Car Do Prawn in the ancient land of Arvon. But his cousin Maughus was jealous and hated him, and Ursilla, his mother's evil Wise Woman, had already begun to tamper with his destiny. Then one day Kethan was given a gift - a belt of incredible beauty and possessing great powers. From this moment on, Kethan's future was in other hands - and his body in a strange new shape. ----------------------------------------- I prowled back and forth, glorying in my muscles, in the quick sinuosity of my movements. And I was so caught in the wonder of my change that I did not hear the lifting of the latch. It was only when the light of a lamp banished the moonlight that I whirled about, snarling. Just in time, I sighted the bared steel of a sword, knew that was what Maughus waited for, that I should atttack him. However, thought I might wear a new shape, my own mind was still in command. I would not play my cousins game so easily. He was not alone. Darkly cloaked, the hood half slipping from her head, Thaney, my betrothed, stood behind his shoulder. Her face was a wry mask of disgust. "Slay him!" Her hoarse whisper rasped in my ears. "Slay him!" | |
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I also realise on doing this review that I've missed out a couple of volumes in this second Witch World series, book 0 and book 1 - however, I don't think it prevented me from understanding or enjoying this one. Briefly, Heroise, the protagonist's mother, goes to the shrine to have her baby believing it will be a son and through him she will be able to rule, as their land follows the custom of the sister's son of the ruler inheriting. The baby is a girl - but a ready solution presents itself as Gillan is in the room next door having her baby which they realise is a son. The mother's nasty wise woman sidekick Ursilla puts Gillan and her midwife into an entranced sleep and makes them forget so that when they wake up they think the baby girl is her own child.
However, things don't work out as Heroise hoped, as the son, whom she names Kethan, is not the malleable tool she and Ursilla hoped. He is too independent and he also faces enmity within the keep because Heroise's sister-in-law hates him and wants her own son Maughus to succeed the father, against custom. Kethan grows up in an atmosphere of tension and hatred, although this is character building in the long run. His time of trial comes when he is betrothed to Maughus' sister, and her mother gives him a gift to commemorate it - a belt he had already been drawn to when a mysterious trader visited the keep. The belt has the effect of turning him into a pard - a big cat - probably because it brings out his innate gift from his real father, Herrel. Everyone, including him, assumes it is a curse laid on him by the belt. The intention is either to kill him as an animal, or else to denounce him as a thing of the Dark. So he has to go on the run, unable to turn back into his human form, and pursued by multiple enemies.
It is quite a short book in comparison to some of the other Witch World novels and a quick read. It isn't outstanding, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, with the suspense as to whether Kethan would prevail, whether he would learn who his real parents are, and whether he would come into his true heritage. So I would award this a page turning 3 stars. (