The Search of Mavin Manyshaped

Sheri S. Tepper 1985 Buy from Amazon.com

This is the third book in The chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped. It is time for Mavin and Himaggery to meet again, after twenty years, but he doesn’t arrive. Instead Mavin finds that there is a message saying that Himaggery has been missing for some eight years, and Windlow the Seer wants her to find him.

Mavin by now is rather good at finding people and adventuring, and although she does find Himaggery, she discovers that he has an ability for complicating her life much more than she expected.

She begins by visiting a Wizard who Himaggery was said to have seen, and finding that he is not to be trusted and probably dangerous. While visiting him, she makes enemies of two Harpies, Pantiquod and Foulitter, who she fears and despises. Although rescuing Himaggery is difficult, finding a way around the Harpies as well may prove too much, especially is she cannot use her Shifting Talent.

In this book Mavin is quite introspective. Even though there are many adventures that are all interesting in their own right, Mavin spends a great deal of time pondering her life, her future, and her relationship with Himaggery. She realises that sometimes compromise isn’t enough, and people who love each other may not love the person, but the idea of that person.

This was a bittersweet novel, and even though we already know that certain things must have happened because of the events shown later in the True Game trilogy, it was satisfying to read them and see the story developed well.

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