Book Review: The River's Gift

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The River's Gift     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Mercedes Lackey
Class/Genre:   Fantasy
Roc, Oct 1999, $14.95, 128 pp.

When his beloved daughter turned fifteen, Lord Kaelin worried that she never seemed to act like a lady. He asks a relative, Lady Magda, to teach Ariella how a woman behaves. Ariella loathes the lessons, but abides by them out of love for her father. In spite of Magda’s efforts, Ariella still sneaks out to the nearby forest where she tends the injured animals with her magical healing prowess. Nearing her sixteenth birthday, she meets an injured kelpie. Apparently the magical water horse has a metal nail stuck in h his paw, which left untreated will eventually kill him. Ariella uses her nail puller to remove the poisonous object. Merod the kelpie informs Ariella that she has earned access to all the forest’s denizen, even those of a magical bent.

Ariella’s joy ends when her father suddenly dies. A distant relative Lord Lyon arrives to take Ariella away from her beloved home. He proudly states he looks forward to fulfilling the pact made by their fathers when he tames “the wild swan” as he calls Ariella. Ariella desperatey struggles for a solution to escape her predicament. Her thoughts turn to Merod, as she feels he remains her only hope from this devastating marital alliance.

THE RIVER’S GIFT is a warm romantic fantasy that shows how talented a writer Mercedes Lackey is. In a short novella, Ms. Lackey provides depth to Ariella and Merod so that readers fully understand their motives. The support cast also comes across rather deep for such a short tale. The entertaining and fast-moving story line centers on Ariella and her various relationships. The only decision for fantasy fans is economic as THE RIVER’S GIFT is a well written, engaging story.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner