Land of the Silver Dragon

July 8, 2013
Clare’s fifth paranormal mystery featuring 11th-century apprentice healer Lassair (after 2011’s The Way Between the Worlds) gets off to a fast start with a “red-bearded giant” bursting into the home of Utta, mother-in-law of Lassair’s sister Goda, and smashing in Utta’s skull. The intruder also injures Goda. Later, someone, presumably the same man, breaks into the abbey where another sister of Lassair lives, the nun Elfritha, and ransacks the dormitory before turning his attention to Lassair’s own home in Aelf Fen, a town in East Anglia. Lassair is at a loss as to what the stranger could be looking for, and her search for answers ends up taking her to Iceland. But the narrative doesn’t sustain the tension created by the rapid-fire acts of terror that kick things off, and the inevitable deceleration makes this a less engaging entry than its predecessor.

Starred review from August 1, 2013
Murderous attacks in England's Fen country call for every skill an apprentice healer can conjure up. Lassair, who has been working with her healer aunt, is preparing to return to Cambridge, where she's studying with the wizard Gurdyman, when a series of attacks on her family members by an enormous redheaded man rock the peaceful village of Aelf Fen. Fearing for her safety, Lassair's father escorts her to Cambridge. But when, mistakenly thinking the danger over, she decides to return for a visit home by herself, she's kidnapped and taken to Iceland. Although Lassair has already had visions of a Viking ship, and Gurdyman has shown her a map he is creating of the known world in the 11th century, she's amazed to find herself in one of those faraway places. Upon her arrival, she is surprisingly well-treated, and as the leader, Thorfinn Ofnirson, gets to know her, he slowly reveals what the redheaded killer is searching for and why he believes it has been hidden by someone in her family. Meanwhile, Lassair's lover, Rollo, is on another spy mission for King William. From Sicily, he senses her danger but can only worry. Lassair must count on Thorfinn to take her back home to find the magical object and help end a family feud that involves her far more closely than she could have imagined. The latest in Clare's Aelf Fen series (The Way Between the Worlds, 2012, etc.) is one of her best, charmingly combining romance, mystery and mysticism.

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Starred review from August 1, 2013
In eleventh-century England, bard, village healer, and occasional sleuth Lassair faces a challenging case when a band of red-haired giants attack some of his distant family members, killing some and severely injuring and traumatizing others. Given the way the victims' homes are invaded, it appears the killers are searching for something. But Lassair's relations are poor, with few possessions, so what could the men want? But worse is to come when Lassair is kidnapped and taken to the distant and mysterious land of Iceland. Strangely, her kidnappers seem to want to befriend her, but Lassair is having none of it until a gentle old man called Thorfinn explains why Lassair's kidnapping was necessary and that the red-haired giants were trying to find a magical stone that Lassair's family is supposed to possess. But Lassair is sure her family doesn't have the stone. So, where is it, and can she find and deliver it to the giants before they kill again? This is an outstanding book in an outstanding serieshaunting, atmospheric, magical, and gripping, with a charismatic young heroine, an unusual premise, believable period details, and plenty of action and suspense. A cracking-good read that is recommended for all collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)