I've read this twice and enjoyed it both times ( )

Aralorn is a shapeshifter who works as a spy for Sianim. Her companion is a wolf who she suspects is not a wolf - given that he can talk. Investigating a powerful and charismatic magician, she discovers some of his nefarious practices and barely escapes. Aralorn meets up again with Wolf, now in human form, and some others who see through the magician's spell and are working to defeat him.
I quite enjoyed this although the page or so of descriptions of the wounds Aralorn received when tortured were a bit graphic for me.

I usually try and write some thoughts soon after I read, but for this one I didn't, and my review notes elsewhere say that I couldn't remember what happened, but it didn't suck.

Oh, this book has given me grief.

First up, I don't really own a copy of it. I have, however, and only after much effort, managed to find and read a library copy, and I've added this copy to my LJ account for the sole purpose of keeping tabs on the title.

This author is a favorite of mine and, with the notable exception of Masques, I have copies of all of her books. Masques, you see, is out of print.

When I first discovered Briggs, I did what I do with any new infatuation, I stalked her through the Internet, found her official website, and ran like wildfire through her list of books, snapped up the new ones as soon as they published, and waited patiently for Ace to reissue her first several books. And I was patient. And I was rewarded with the reissues of every previous out-of-print title except for Masques.

2006 came and went, and I was very patient. 2007 came and suddenly Masques became delayed at the publishers indefinitely, and my patience snapped. No problem, I thought. I can track down the 1993 edition of this book.

Ha.

It is nearly impossible to track down a copy of Masques. I tried diligently. While Amazon.com does list a couple used copies for sale, prices start at $1,310.99, I am… not going to pay that. No public or university library in my state has a copy. My trusty Internet turned up a World Catalog search listing a grand total of 20 copies scattered across the country. An interlibrary loan attempt run through my public library, however, turned up listings for only 10 copies and not one could be sent to me. My faithful university library declined to run a loan search on the grounds that they only run loan searches for students and an alumna is not a student. The WorldCat search listed the Library of Congress (2 hours away counts as practically next door) as having a noncirculating copy, but the LOC online directory did not show that listing. I queried the LOC anyway. They don't have a copy.

I thought there might be a slim chance that I could go back to my public library interlibrary loan librarian, get the names of the 10 libraries who have copies, obtain their contact information, discern if the copies they have are noncirculating or just currently in use, and beg them to hold and/or notify me when a copy becomes available so that I may rerequest the loan. Actually, my interlibrary loan librarian took pity on me and sent out a second request for the book, this time finding a copy to bring in. It took about two months of work, but I finally had a copy in my hands.

It took me about 2 hours to read it.

And it was good. I enjoyed it. It's a first novel, and it has the flaws and imperfections that tend to be inherent to such, but I was so glad I went through the effort to track it down.

I'll be even happier when it comes back into print, because the author is slatted to rework it (with more experienced hands) and pair it with a sequel. :delight: The author just needs to complete her contractual obligations for 8 other books and a short story before working on Masques again. It's going to take years.

My advice? If you don't already happen to have a copy, and don't have the fortune to have obscenely good luck at flea markets, see your local international loan librarian for assistance. ( )