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Title: Beautifully told fantasy
Review: Years ago, before the advent of internet shopping, I used to journey to the city a few times a year, to visit bookstores that carried imported British science fiction. This book, first published in Britain, reminds me why British fantasy remains among the best.In "Lady in Gil" Rebecca Bradley has managed to take that classic fantasy plot of the reluctant hero, and turn it in to something that is uniquely and wholly her own.From the first, the reader suspects that the scholarly and hopelessly unathletic Tigrallef will make a far better hero than his musclebound and unimaginative brother. The wonder of the story is in how Tigrallef achieves this transformation, as the author turns familiar cliches on their head, culminating in Tigrallef being transformed into something that even he did not expect-- a genuine hero, who achieves success for his people, but at a terrible cost to himself.Here's hoping that Ace will soon release the sequel in the US.
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