Emerald House Rising by Peg Kerr

Attendees: Renee Babcock, A. T. Campbell III, Lori Wolf

A small but loyal group gathered to discuss Emerald House Rising at the FACT Office. The book is a slickly written first fantasy novel about a young woman who’s training to be a gem cutter but discovers that she has a talent for magic. We felt that Kerr’s storytelling was excellent. We were impressed by the thoughtfully constructed society and the vivid descriptions of political intrigue. The magic system in the book was unusual, and it was worked well into the plot. There were a few problems: many of the minor characters seemed like “stock” characters, and the plot seemed to flow almost too smoothly for much of the book. We felt this book was a well-above-average first novel, and we look forward to Kerr’s future work.

— A. T. Campbell, III