Review: Enjoyable read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 5, 2012
This is the story of a noblewoman who is sent to a remote post due to a slight against the equivalent of a king.  There she meets an "enemy barbarian" and rather than see him die in the cold, she takes him in assuming that he will die, just without the dishonor of dying in the cold.  He doesn't die and it causes a bit of a dilemma for her.I liked this novel particularly the author's ability to show how ridiculous bias is just because someone is different.  The heroine, Ronne, finds she needs friends and allies from various cultures in order to save the remainder of the kingdom.  Watching other characters in the story get over their bias was interesting.I do have a few complaints and that is the author's explanation of a culture's way of doing this is a bit convoluted.  I at times found myself saying, "huh" but it wasn't enough to cause me to put the book down.  Also, the little section where the story is being told from the perspective of the snow tiger was a bit dumb.  I think the author should do a novella to better explain the snow tiger as the excerpt in the book did not work.  Overall, I give this book a 3.5 that is rounded to four.