Dun Lady's Jess

Rating:
Summary: An engrossing read--well worth it!
Review: Frankly, I was surprised to only find two other reviews for this book. I first read it several years ago and have made Doranna Durgin one of the regular authors I check when entering a book store. This book is not simply for horse-lovers, although that does make it even more appealing. The characters are intriguing--from Jess and her struggles with humanity to Carey and his love of her. Sometimes you want to shake them, sometimes you want to hug them. I was sped along as I read it and couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel. From a first-time fantasy author, Dun Lady's Jess is a solid, enjoyable book suited to readers from all walks of life.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books in the world!!!
Review: Has to be one of the best of the century!!! Science fiction has seen a new master, watch out Piers Anthony and Roger Zelanzy, Anne McAthrey may have trouble with this one....

Rating:
Summary: EXCELENT story line, writting needs work.
Review: I ABSOLUTY loved the story, very engaging and powerful. I however didn't like how she wrote in a few spots, and I felt the begining was weak, but the powerful story line mostly made up for that.

Rating:
Summary: Really wonderful fantasy
Review: I don't normally seek out books about horses, but this novel was really exceptional. I love fantasy, and the truly mystical occurences in this books just served to draw me in more completely. Doranna Durgin also introduced a few fantasy concepts concerning magic that I have never read before, and I was really impressed. If you love fantasy, horses, and really good books, by all means read this!

Rating:
Summary: Unusual story, but very good
Review: I don't think I have ever read a story like this one before--a rare thing in these days of multi volume fantasy series. Dun Lady's Jess is a simple story about a courier's horse. Jess and her rider are on a mission when they are attacked and accidentally transported to our world. Due to the nature of the spell used against them, Jess is turned into a woman while her rider is seperated from her and disorientated.

Jess is found naked and alone by a couple out for the day. They rescue her, take her home, and finally realise they hve something very strange on their hands. Jess meanwhile is having trouble understanding that standing on her hind legs is now allowed (rearing is bad) and that she can talk just like her rider.

All in all, a simple but intensely interesting read. Well worth your moneyu and time.

Mark E. Cooper
Author of The Warrior Within (ISBN: 0954512200)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I read this book awhile ago, and loved it. Being an animal lover, I appreciated the care with which the author described the horses, and how much personality they had; they were an actual part of the story, rather than just beasts of burden (this is true to one extent or another of all her writing). I also appreciated the fact that while she included a romance, sex wasn't particularly present. I get tired of some fantasy authors who seem to think that if they throw enough sex in, it compensates for lacks such as plot, character development, or action; also authors that just plain write it in all the time. Finally, she had a somewhat original and creative idea; others have written about animals becoming people or vice versa, but none that I've ever read had as much realism in that description, or as much consideration of what that would actually mean for the individual involved (especially if it is an animal becoming human). All in all, I loved this book and would highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: This Author Knows Horses
Review: If you like reading about real horses, and not just cartoon horses, this author is one to watch. Her play with animal and human perceptions makes her work engaging and interesting.

Rating:
Summary: A Horse and Her Man
Review: This is the first novel by Durgin and is unusually well written for a first work. It is also the first in a series about a horse, Dun Lady's Jess, who becomes a human. Her owner is Arlen of Anfeald, a senior wizard of Camolen, but her master is Carey, head rider of the Anfeald couriers.

Arlen has discovered a spell for crossing over to other dimensions and needs help developing a checkspell to prevent unscrupulous exploition of other continua. He sends Carey to Sherra, a member of the Wizards Council, with a full report on the new spell. Warning Carey that other wizards know of the new spell, Arlen provides a stone carrying the spell and orders Carey to use it if danger appears.

Carey and Lady are ambushed and Carey is shot with an arrow, pulling Lady hard to the right. As they plunge over a cliff, Carey invokes the spellstone and they go elsewhere.

Lady, transformed to a human, lands in a meadow in Ohio with her tack lying atop and around her. She is found by Eric and Dayna, who take her home with them. Since Jess is new to the human business, she is a strange, possibly crazy, woman. At first she seems to be mute -- after all, horses don't talk -- but soon learns how to make the funny sounds that she has heard all her life. She calls Dayna and Eric by name, and tells them her own, and then goes on a orgy of word learning. When Eric brings in the tack, Jess says the saddlebags belong to Carey. When she identifies herself as a horse, also belonging to Carey whom she has lost and wants to find, they take her to Jaime at the Dancing Equine Dressage Center, where Jess meets Mark, Jaime's brother.

While Eric tries to find Carey by calling nearby hospitals, Jaime questions Jess and then puts her to work in the stables. A stranger shows up looking for a dun mare with black points and identifies himself as Derrick, living at the LK hotel. Jaime notices that the description would match Jess if she was a horse. Moreover, Jess displays an unusual ability in reading horse body language. Jaime is beginning to suspect the unthinkable.

Jaime tells the others about Derrick at the LK hotel, where Dayna and Mark work. Using her passkey, Dayna finds Carey, drugged and helpless, in Derrick's room as well as a bow and quiver of arrows. She is almost caught by Derrick, but escapes and returns to The Dancing to tell of her discovery. They return to the hotel while Mark is on duty and rescue Carey. Then things start to get interesting.

Eventually, Jess, Dayna, Eric, Jaime and Carey cross over to Camolen. They are accidently accompanied by Ernie, a gunman hired by Derrick, and land in the middle of a siege.

While the novel is fantasy, there are a few points that strain even that loose standard. The spell itself provides the ability to speak English, yet the rapidity with which Jess learns to speak and read is truly fantastic. However, Durgin provides an explanation at the very beginning: the intercontinual transients are connected to their home dimension by a thread of magic that powers any spells invoked in the other continuum. Apparently that also powers magical talents -- such as language learning -- possessed by the travellers.

This is truly a horse lover's fantasy. While very ignorant of horse affairs, I feel that the horsey thinking underlying Jess's personality rings true with my experiences. Durgin really knows her horses.