FIRETHORN

Micklem's majestic and powerful debut, the first volume of a fantasy trilogy, introduces a compelling heroine with a strong, original voice. A sweeping adventure saga as mystical as it is raw, the novel is also a biting commentary on violence and its effect on relationships defined by a caste system. Luck, a lowborn mudfolk orphan, changes her name to Firethorn in honor of the hallucinogenic berries she ingests in the Kingswood after a life-altering rape by a Blood, the highborn warrior she's worked for as a drudge. Now "god-bothered," she discovers that her already uncanny gifts, such as seeing in the dark, have intensified, as has her desire to escape. During UpsideDown Days, the season when "Low is high and high is low, and people seize chances they've been waiting for all year," the flame-haired Firethorn couples with another Blood, Sire Galan, and impulsively accepts his offer to serve as his sheath and bedmate. Later, her fortitude will be severely tested in the often brutally sexist world of the warrior. Enriched but not defined by the influences of many cultures (Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, etc.) and authors as diverse as Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ursula K. Le Guin, Mary Renault, Jean Auel, Margaret Atwood and, yes, even Tolkein, this hypnotic tale of passion and survival will resonate with sophisticated readers of both sexes. Agent, Merilee Heifetz (June 8)

Forecast: Orson Scott Card supplies a blurb that will help lure his fans. The author being married to poet and playwright Cornelius Eady can't hurt either.