Daughter of the Bright Moon

I dug up my old copy of this book at my Father's house where it has been moldering in the basement for the last 20 years. Out of curiosity, I brought it back with me to Holland because I had the notion that I remembered it. Funny how *well* I remembered it. As I turned the pages, I could clearly remember what I was reading and had a sense of what was coming next. Rifkind is a loner in a tribe of loners-- outcast from her desert tribe, she turns to her goddess to help her find her destiny. I'm not sure how well it holds up over time (my real review is something more like 3.5 stars) but there was a fair amount to hold an adult's interest, just like there was enough to hold that of a teenager. Some of the aspects feel visionary in light of the fiction that came after this book and others simply fall flat. Worth reading if you can find it.

I read this book many!!! years ago and regret I ever loaned it to a friend. (they never returned it) It took me a long time to ever find it again as it is out of print. I think this is her best work and there should be more writers with her talent

Let me explain my enthusiasm. In some ways I want to give this book five stars, and in others, two, because some elements of it were absolutely fantastic (the culture-building) while others made me wince (some of the characters are quite stereotypical, as is the lack of "fill"). Abbey always seems to write unforgettable stuff, though, and she has with this book. There are components of swordplay, magic, and gritty realism that is lacking in much of today's fantasy, or else poorly done, that make it a refreshing change-of-pace. She successfully creates a world you can believe in, but almost seems to place random characters within it that are acted upon, rather than act out of personal and true-to-life motivation. On the other hand, her characters don't do anything out of sync with their personalities, although this indeed may be part of the problem (again, stereotypes). For all of this, Daughter of the Bright Moon is a rare and interesting find certainly worthy of any avid fantasy-reader's attention.

Unfortunately I have not read this book in too long. However, it has been one of my favorites, and I have read it many times. It's a fabulous book and I've always been unhappy that there werent more sequels. Lyn Abbey brought a new world, a new magic system to life, as she does so well, and characters that are believable and act true to their nature. It seems to be a flaw of hers (the wooden sword, beneath the web) that she gets me going and then wont write the rest of the sequels! any of these books is worth an eddings like string of sequels to further develop the world. my one complaint is that lynn abbey doesnt write more!