Review: A great read from a  master storyteller. It will suck you in!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 19, 2013
I love all of R.Lee Smith's stories. She has a way of creating an environment that is both so alien and so familiar. It can seem so real as you are reading it. You really live the story she presents and continue to live it in you mind after the final page. We all have our favorites. The Scholomance was my least favorite.I found I enjoyed it so much more the second time around and came away with new insights I missed the first time. I did not like Mara the first time. I found her to be cold, heartless, a real b****. This time she came across as so many of R.Lee's female characters do, a strong, knows-what-she-wants, take charge woman. Mara was definitely a no-holds-barred, I'm-not-going-to-take-your-s*** girl. I loved it! I had a love/hate relationship with Horuseps and Kazuul. Their interactions with Mara were both amazingly tender yet cruel also. I actually felt sorry for the Scrivener and didn't think he was bad (as in evil). He was what he was. I did truly despise some of the "Masters" though and wanted to do them bodily harm. The ending was fascinating with its explanation of how the Masters came to be. The Scholomance, a horror story with strong erotic elements, was one of R. Lee's darker reads, downright difficult in some scenes but utterly fascinating and enjoyable.