A gripping prehistoric adventure fantasy channels a timely message about tolerance and social justice. Moralin, a highborn maiden of sophisticated, stratified, silk-trading Delagua, has to abandon her secret warrior training as she enters adolescence and cloistered temple service. But when captured by a barbaric enemy tribe, Moralin must draw on her forbidden skills, and rely on her heritage and her goddess’s guidance. For the outside world is both dangerous and marvelous, and the alien peoples are not as despicable as she had always believed; even the goddess’s voice can be ambiguous. From the riveting first sentence to the exultant final exclamation, Kurtz interweaves meticulous world-building, thrilling exploits, and moments of transcendent wonder. Moralin is an utterly convincing heroine: proud, resilient, and unflinchingly honest. While her smug conviction of Delaguan superiority grates, it makes her dawning social awareness even more poignant. Unfortunately, the tight reliance on such a xenophobic viewpoint leaves the remaining characters (and their cultures) tantalizingly vague. Readers will ache to learn more about her world and her future—just like Moralin herself. (Fiction. 10+)
