Mage Winds #2 Winds Of Change [Mass Market Paperback]

On the downside, I must say there is something remarkably unappealing about magic being so common place. The whole double meaning of magic in English is something that is supernatural and also special. In this book, magic becomes a natural underground phenomenon that people can tap into, sort of like drilling a well. Somehow well drilling doesn't seem very exciting.

On the upside, the book flows very nicely and really holds your attention. The characters are attractive, varied, and well-developed. The setting is interesting. This whole trilogy is a cliffhanger thing. Don't plan to buy only one of the books in the series. Just plan to buy all three.

The books in this trilogy are quite sexual, including gay theme material. Prudish people should not buy these, nor should you buy them for pre-pubescent children. Personally, though, I liked this aspect of the book.

This book is very feminist. The main women are warriors and mages. The men are somewhat de-emphasized, and all the villains seem to be men. Also on the downside for me (as a middle aged person), the middle aged people are also de-emphasized and weak, while the young people are strong and dominant.

I know this flies in the face of just about every other reviewer here. Bear with me, please.

In the first book, "Winds of Fate," Elspeth, heir to the throne of Valdemar, had gone off to find some mages, because Valdemar was in grave danger, and it had none. Along the way, she found out that *she* was a mage, and prospectively very, very powerful; she also regressed quite a bit from how she'd been previously drawn in "By the Sword" and the "Arrows" trilogy.

Darkwind, in the first book, started off as an ex-mage and had to take up the mantle of magecraft again, because his clan, K'Sheyna, was in grave danger, and most of the mages were tapped out.

The thing is, if I'd read this book alone, I'd have liked it better. Darkwind and Elspeth are drawn to be much more sympathetic characters in this book. They have interests outside magecraft, and we see a bit of that. We also see Gwena finally getting her comeuppance (in the first book, Gwena, Elspeth's Companion, really raised Hell because she tried to coerce Elspeth into doing things, rather than asking or explaining anything). And we see more about Treyvan and Hydona, as well as more from Nyara and Skif.

Nyara really starts to come into her own, here. Without her efforts, Mornelithe Falconsbane (the big bad guy) would not be put down at the end of this book. And, without Treyvan and Hydona, the book would lose quite a bit of light, laughter, and love, as their successful romance foreshadows both Darkwind and Elspeth's eventual pairing-off and Skif and Nyara's as well.

The thing is, like I said before, it's *not* the first book in a trilogy. It's the second. And, as such, I have to go off the first book, or this book would make no sense whatsoever.

So, much as I like this book, and would like to give it a higher rating, I feel in good conscience I can't. So, I'm giving it three and a half stars, and would definitely recommend it -- with the extremely grudging addition that, without "Winds of Fate," this book will make little to no sense.