Book 27

Book 27 was General Winston's Daughter by Sharon Shinn. It's was a YA novel, and quite similar to The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. This is a good thing, since I like the Blue Sword a great deal.

The novel is loosely based on/set in the empire period of English history. The main character, Averie, is going to join her father in Chiarrin, an Middle Eastern style country that is in the process of being taken over by the country she is from. Her father is in charge of the take over, and the story follows her experiences there.

While short, the novel packed in a lot of topics and storylines, but never felt over stuffed. Averie grows up quite a bit throughout the course of the novel, and learns who she really is and what she wants from life. The romance part of the story is pretty tame, but still touching and believable. Averie is a fun character, and the secondaries were nicely fleshed out as well. My only complaint is that the Chiarrin's resistance to the take over could have been expanded upon more, as well as the avaricious nature of Averie's home country. I was able to make a lot of connections between the story and the British empire building of the late nineteenth century, but I think for the book's sake it would have been better to have a bit more historical context in terms of the book's world.

General Winston's Daughter

Sharon Shinn

1/5/27