Rating: 
Summary: Simple and beautiful
Review: In "The Shape-Changer's Wife", Sharon Shinn makes an excellent fantasy debut. The main characters are finely drawn, original, and interesting: the imagery fresh and beautiful, and the protagonist sympathetic and engaging. Under the surface of the story lie intriguing and difficult themes, of the use of knowledge,for good or ill; and the nature of power and responsibility. Especially poignant was Aubrey's gradual realization that not everyone is as good and well-meaning as he is himself. A wonderful, lyrically written fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I Owned it in Hardcover
Review: In 1997, Sharon Shinn and I were both nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I remember sitting nervously beside her at a panel in honor of all five of the nominees, given before the award's winner was announced. She seemed cool, elegant, and intelligent. I sat there beside her, focused on my own writing, my own book, hoping that I seemed MORE cool, elegant, and intelligent. I'd heard her book was good, but I certainly hadn't had time yet to read it...But.... it's four years later and I finally got around at least to reading The Shape-Changer's Wife. And now I know: if I didn't win, the Campbell should have gone to Sharon. She is a brilliant, subtle writer, and my guess is that her books are only going to get better, to get deeper, as she goes along. I am truly looking forward to finding the time to start reading her subsequent books.Here, I'll limit myself to comment on the one I've read. The Shape-Changer's Wife is a wonderful book. It's one for the readers out there who truly love fantasy. It's for the disenchanted readers who are still hoping to be able to open a fantasy novel and lose themselves within. It's also one of those books that should remain in print, available, for any in-coming reader who is discovering how much they love fantasy books. As a writer, I try to keep down the number of books I own. I try to keep only the books I want to go back to, the books I care to retrieve when I loan them out to friends, the books that I love--or have loved. Shape-Changer's Wife is one of them. I wish I could own it in hardcover. I guess I'll have to settle for hunting down a first printing. As for you--track it down. Buy a used copy. Order it up at your local library. E-mail Sharon's publisher and tell them that you love it and you want it back in print. Support a writer--buy their books!
Rating:
Summary: Surprising first novel
Review: Sharon Shinn's first novel is so different from her later work that it almost seems she made a deliberate decision to change direction. Like her later work it is a fantasy, but one written in elegiac tone. While a short novel, its study of selfishness and renunciation make her other novels seem a bit fluffy by contrast. Her angel series and other stories are very popular so clearly this author made a canny move. Still I for one am sorry not to see more of this Sharon Shinn.
Rating:
Summary: Surprising first novel
Review: Sharon Shinn's first novel is so different from her later work that it almost seems she made a deliberate decision to change direction. Like her later work it is a fantasy, but one written in elegiac tone. While a short novel, its study of selfishness and renunciation make her other novels seem a bit fluffy by contrast. Her angel series and other stories are very popular so clearly this author made a canny move. Still I for one am sorry not to see more of this Sharon Shinn.
Rating:
Summary: Different from all the others
Review: So many fantasy books use the same characters, conflicts, and themes to build their world around, but The Shape-Changer's Wife is different. It's a unique story with memorable characters and a wonderful mythic quality about it. Parts of the plot are predictable, but the central dilemma is not, and the language and characters are just so wonderful that you have to read to the end. Fans of epics and adventures might find it a bit slow, but it is simply a lovely little story.
Rating: 
Summary: A modern fable in a fantasy setting
Review: The fact that Peter Beagle has classed Shinn with Robin McKinley should tell you what sort of fantasy--and what sort of storytelling skill--to look forward to in reading this book. All three authors share a gift for fantasy tales that are as comfortable and satisfying as a centuries-old fairy tale, with the depth of characterization that any discerning twentieth-century reader requires. Shinn has simply crafted a great story.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic and poignant; a delightful and unforgettable read.
Review: The Shape-Changer's Wife is a simple, powerful story of fascination, love, and moral courage. The likeable hero, Aubrey, a gifted student wizard, has run up against a situation that tries his strongest points - his straightforward morality, and his magic. The language of this lovely story flows like a poem or a song, and enhances the emotional chords of the tale. Descriptions are sensuous and visceral, and the reader cannot help identifying with Aubrey throughout his internal odyssey. One to read and re-read, and even to read aloud. Rare.
Rating:
Summary: A Hauntingly Beautiful Story
Review: The two things I love best about Sharon Shinn's books are her character development and her unique plots. And this book is no exception.
A young magician-in-training, Aubrey, journeys to a remote manor to apprentice himself to the greatest shape changer ever, on the recommendation of his last teacher. Aubrey finds his new home strange and things about the other inhabitants downright alarming. His new teacher seems to taunt him with knowledge instead of imparting it and is often gone on mysterious missions that he refuses to speak of. The servants seem to hate their master, but refuse to leave him. Those who live in the nearby village are terrified of, not only the shape changer, but his entire household as well. And as for Lilith, the shape changers wife, she seems to feel nothing at all.
Aubrey finds himself strangely bound to each one, but especially Lilith. As Aubrey begins to learn more than his teacher ever meant for him to, he also begins unraveling a startling mystery that will change the destinies of himself and all that surround him.
The plot was intriguing, romantic, and often surprising. Fantasy fans won't want to miss it.
Rating:
Summary: A captivating blend of fantasy, romance, and magic.
Review: This book by new author Sharon Shinn, is among the best of
recent works of fantasy. She adroitly blends the elements of
the classic fairy tale with an in-depth look at the nature
of magic in her world and a moving, personal romance into a
seamless whole far greater than the sum of its parts. The book centers on a young, talented wizard setting out to
learn the most difficult and closely guarded magic - that of
shape-changing. However, before he can become anything else,
he must learn what it truly means to be a deer, a horse, a
tree...or, most importantly, a human.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic !!!
Review: This book, an enchanting fantasy (or to be more precise: a phantastic novel with a theme and plot in the tradition of Prosper Mérimée, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Théophile Gautier, and Gérard de Nerval, written in a fresh fantasy fiction style with elegant and unassuming language), is one of the few genre works that manages to cross the border from enjoyably trivial pageturners to works of true literary merit. To read this book is like experiencing, with full awareness, another life, and the end of the book returns you to yourself with wisdom gained. Thank you, Sharon. But, a warning: the ending, though perfect, positive, and absolutely right, is not easy on someone, lonely and hungry for happiness, like me. It took me some time to get over this tale and be able to start reading another book. Few books have so drawn me into their world.
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