Enhances this fantasy epic collection with swift action, a well-developed world in which an oracle becomes involved in superpower warlord battles for control, and characterization which is realistic."" - The Bookwatch. ""Considers the plight of an intelligent single woman who, as an oracle, enjoys neither a fixed role nor a class niche...Cook's picaresque plot yields abundant adventure, baroque inventions along with a darkly comic edge and, along the way, a measure of rueful insight."" - Publishers Weekly.