Hero's Quest Betrayed

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Summary: Virginia GayZette, April 2001, by Ravigo Zomana
Review: Schumacher puts together a quite compelling novel, combining an epic quest with intrigue, stirring in philosophical ideology, folding in a touch of magic, and spicing it with passion. In her own heroic effort, Schumacher builds not one, but two very different societies and cultures in Hero's Quest Betrayed. . . . Hero's Quest Betrayed is a novel that will keep your attention, entertain you and maybe excite you; it may also lead you to question your ideas of a perfect society, and give you a few ideas for improving the one we live in.

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Summary: Hero's Quest Betrayed - A fun read!
Review: This is an excellent fantasy/adventure book. It was a fun read. I highly recommend it. I liked the way the author developed both of the main characters. They are both naive in very different ways and together find that each has her own strengths that help in surviving their often dangerous journey and the lies that have been passed from generation to generation.

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Summary: Liberty Press, June 2001, by Sheryl LeSage
Review: This is one of those inhale-in-one-sitting type of books I can recommend happily. Schumacher's characters are excellent foils for each other, and their romance is believable (if inevitable). Peryn is the eponymous hero, who has left her apparently utopian homeland to find a stolen precious stone. She is naive, sometimes to the point of being dense, whereas her ally in the raucous town at the end of her journey, Alyche, is a cynical thief and fence for stolen goods.

Alyche and Peryn have all the adventures anyone could want for them and, of course, eventually become lovers. But their relationship is not simplistic or trouble-free. Culture clashes form the basis for most of their conflicts, and two very opposite cultures those are: the peaceful Northerners are unable to lie, or at least Peryn can't. They value craftsmanship, sex, the arts, and love.

The Southerners are the classic people one meets in any number of fantasy medieval novels: grasping, dirty, patriarchal, petty, and mean. Alyche is the exceptions, but other genuinely good characters show up here and there, too. The novel itself is not cynical at all, but neither is it as naive as young Peryn.

The most interesting and challenging parts of the book happen once the hero's quest seems to be fulfilled. I don't want to spoil the ending, so I'll just say that anyone who has read Ursula LeGuin's classic short story, The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, should read this book to find out where, exactly, those people might imagine they're going, and why they really leave. This novel fits comfortably into the anti-utopian tradition.