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The Centaur's Daughter (2011)

by Ellen Jensen Abbott(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0761459782 (ISBN13: 9780761459781)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Marshall Cavendish

series

Watersmeet

review 1: Em's Review: Ellen Jensen Abbott’s Watersmeet tells the story of Abisina, an outcast from Vranille whose call to adventure comes when a new leader comes to power. With her dark hair and skin, and her lack of a father, Abisina is an outcast in Vranille and has been treated horribly all of her life. Her mother’s role as the village healer is the only thing that has offered them protection. One day, Abisina’s mother tells her of her estranged father, and promises that soon they will leave for Watersmeet. But when a long-awaited leader arrives and turns the town against all outcasts, Abisina must flee for her life. On her own now, she must seek out her father and the place called Watersmeet. Along the way she meets dwarves, centaurs, and other classic fantasy creatures, ... moreand begins to come to terms with her own prejudices.The Centaur’s Daughter, the follow up to Watersmeet, picks up two years after where book one left off. In an attempt to avoid too many spoilers, I’ll keep the summary here vague. Abisina has found her place in her new home, but there are new threats, new challenges, and Abisina must set off to forge alliances between various lands/groups/creatures. As she comes of age, she also struggles with what it means to be her father’s daughter – contemplating leadership, exploring her special abilities, and dealing with her own lingering prejudices.Several memorable characters and locations from Watersmeet return or are revisited in the second book. Abbott doesn’t leave new readers to the series in the dark, but instead finds ways to fill them in on what they missed. This is generally a pet peeve of mine, but since it had been a while since I first read Watersmeet, I was happy for the refresher. I think a reader could hop right into The Centaur’s Daughter without having read the previous book, but I wouldn’t suggest it. Watersmeet is a fabulous read and the issues that Abisina continues to struggle with in The Centaur’s Daughter are much richer given the context of the first book.What I appreciate most about this series is that it is classic fantasy, reminiscent of Narnia and Earthsea novels. The story deals primarily with issues that are common place, but explores them in a fictional land inhabited by humans, centaurs, fauns, dwarves, fairies, and minotaurs. The books both have maps that make it easier to get a sense of the land and to follow along where the various adventures take the characters. And while the novels are considered YA, and our main character is a teenager in both stories, I think that this series is especially appropriate for younger readers.While I have enjoyed both books so far, I would definitely suggest Watersmeet more enthusiastically than The Centaur’s Daughter. Watersmeet has a strong balance of character development and action, and introduces us to an interesting and complicated new world. It works well as a stand-alone, which is something that I always appreciate in a series book. The Centaur’s Daughter is a great follow up for those who fall for the world, characters, and story that Abbott created in Watersmeet, but it felt at times like an interlude. Sure there was action, but it felt like it was building up to something that was just too big to fit into this installment of the series. I suppose we’ll have to wait for book three! (not the worst thing that could happen to a person) That being said, Abisina’s character development in The Centaur’s Daughter is captivating, and makes for an engaging and worthwhile read.
review 2: In this sequel to Watersmeet, Abisina must fight to unite the North and the South in the aftermath of the war against Charach. Watersmeet's supplies are exhausted due to refugees flooding in from the South and the surviving villages in the South are in the same situation. It's up to Abisina to help them all.I was skeptical at first, because I thought Watersmeet was a decent stand-alone book. However, I actually liked The Centaur's Daughter better. This book deals more with the depth of the characters and their attempts to overcome generations of prejudice. I highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy and anyone looking for a great allegory. less

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