Voyage of the Snake Lady

SPOILER ALERT (in the middle of this review) The follow-up to Theresa Tomlinson's "Moon Riders" was well worth the wait. In her main character of Myrina, Tomlinson has created a living, breathing myth. So often in the retelling of ancient mythological stories, the reader feels removed from the characters. How can one empathize with a woman who makes love to a shower of golden coins? Or a man who is so mesmerized by his own reflection in the water, he dies for unrequited love of himself? In Tomlinson's writing, she has been able to recreate a believable mythological voice and yet loose nothing of the intimacy of a first-person story. The reader cannot help but admire Myrina for her incredible strength and cunning mind at the same time as feel empathy for the tough decisions she must make throughout her voyages. Tomlinson did such a wonderful job slowly weaving her fictional story with historical facts and ancient myths that when she wrapped up the ending so quickly without any warning, I was utterly disappointed. I nearly cried when, as I neared the last few pages, I read: SPOILER: "Myrina caught her breath with pleasure at the thought. The [upcoming] journey would follow many of the old ways along which her own lost tribe, the Mazagardi, traveled when she was a child... Such a journey would bring much joy." How could the author hint at such an interesting journey and then finish the book four pages later? There were so many unanswered questions. Character's were suddenly dropped and the tale bluntly ended. It was so frustrating! And then the epilogue was completely removed from any emotion. We get to see Myrina's reunion with her lover, but only through the eyes of the seer, Cassandra. To me, this is like saying, "and they lived happily ever after...". This book was not a fairy tale and yet the end was treated like one. I was so disappointed. However, I still enjoyed this book very much. I think Myrina is an amazing female character worthy of joining the ranks of Lyra Belacqua, Hermione Granger and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in young adult fiction. Tomlinson is a wonderful writer and I would definitely be interested in reading her other works.

This book was just as good as i had hoped! It is 100% worth every penny you pay for it!! I loved the moon riders, and found that i could easily relate to Myrina! This book is not as sad as the moon riders, which i am glab about!! This book goes by fast if you are into it, i can easily see how it could go by slowly if you didn't enjoy it, but i liked ever page!!