Juliet Marillier is a rare talent, a writer who can imbue her characters and her story with such warmth, such heart, that no reader can come away from her work untouched. Daughter of the Forest is a testimony to that talent, a first novel and the beginning of a trilogy like no other: a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love that only Juliet Marillier could write. Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is blessed with six sons: Liam, a natural leader; Diarmid, with his passion for adventure; twins Cormack and Conor, each with a different calling; rebellious Finbar, grown old before his time by his gift of the Sight; and the young, compassionate Padriac. But it is Sorcha, the seventh child and only daughter, who alone is destined to defend her family and protect her land from the Britons and the clan known as Northwoods. For her father has been bewitched, and her brothers bound by a spell that only Sorcha can lift. Exiled from Sevenwaters and cast out into the forest and beyond, Sorcha falls into the hands of the enemy. Now she is torn between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once. Praise for Juliet Marillier: Ms. Marilliers ability to use so well such a known legend and make it both logical and exciting is an outstanding gift. I am now, of course, eager to see what happens next. ˜ Andre Norton

• Fantasy