I enjoyed the author's full-length fantasy 'Heart of the Witch', an
unusual story with great characters and plenty of depth, so I thought
this novella was worth a try. Main character Iona is a college student,
studying social psychology. During the day, she attends lectures and
tries to fend off the unwanted attentions of a persistent suitor. Each
night, she is plagued by unusually vivid dreams of herself as a Mayan
priestess. Not surprisingly, I found the Mayan dreams far more
interesting than Iona's humdrum daily life, and this part of the story
is beautifully realised. The interweaving of Iona's present-day and
dream lives is very neat, too, if not overwhelmingly original. The
romance element wasn't quite as romantic as I would have liked, and
perhaps this part of the story could have been filled out a bit more.
I
don't normally like short form fantasy, and this was a bit too short
for my taste and the ending crept up on me rather suddenly. However, it
makes a light, pleasantly enjoyable read, with a nicely ambiguous twist
at the end. The Mayan element was intriguing enough that I'd be happy to
read more about it. Three stars.
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