Sonderbooks Book Review of The Shamer's Signet

Reviewed October 31, 2005.
Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2005. Originally published in Denmark in 2001. 314 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (J MCN F KAA).
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2005 (#5, Young Adult Fantasy Fiction)

Dina’s mother is a Shamer. She can look someone in the eye and tell their deepest secrets. Criminals cannot help but confess. Dina has inherited the Shamer’s gift and is acting as her mother’s apprentice.

In The Shamer’s Daughter, they were captured by Drakar the Dragon Lord, a man with no conscience, who could look a Shamer in the eye unmoved. They escaped him and now live in the Highlands. But they still are not safe.

Drakar is taking over more and more cities and burning the Shamers there, calling them witches. Now he is using trickery to try to capture Dina and her mother, and to stir up trouble in the Highlands.

This book doesn’t let the tension up for a moment. But the book is more than just plot—the author explores what it would feel like if no one were willing to look you in the eye, if you could see the evil in a person’s heart. She also gives much of the story to Davin, Dina’s brother, and explores the struggles that come from trying to be a man and defend his mother and sister, and not being able to look them in the eye if he lets them down.

When I was in England six months ago, I found a book by Lene Kaaberbol and thought it was the sequel to The Shamer’s Daughter. It turned out that it was the fourth book in the series. I’m delighted that it continues to so many books, but I hope they will publish Book Three in America very soon!

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

*****The Shamer's Signet*

Book Two of the Shamer Chronicles

by Lene Kaaberbol