While Ehren was away on a foolish errand for the First Level Ministry, Benlan, his king and best friend, was assassinated, along with most of the king's guard. Now, a member of the First Level, Varien, has ordered to stop his ongoing search for the king's murderers. Many years ago, King Benlan's brother, Dannel, set off across the Barrenlands, a near impossible feat for a man alone, to be with the woman he loved. Now, the First Level Ministry wants Ehren to find Dannel and his family and "neutralize" them. They want no one trying to make a claim for the throne. By now, Ehren is almost certain in his suspicions that there is a traitor among the First Level wizards. Ehren sets out to find Dannel and his family. When Ehren finds Dannel's children, Laine and Shette, in a merchant caravan, he doesn't tell them what his mission is. He just travels with them for a while. He grows quite attached to them on the trip. He's gathered a lot of information on his trip, and has grown even surer of Varien's involvement with Benlan's death. Now Ehren is determined to protect Dannel's family and get his revenge against Varien.

Barrenlands is a good story with likable characters. You can feel Ehren's pain at his friend's death and determination to do what is right. Durgin keeps the story to the point, rather than branching out into plots and subplots. The story is fast-paced and exciting. Very enjoyable.

Likable people (including Ehren, the young brother and sister he seeks out, and secondary characters), physical and magical excitement, psychic visions, and secrets of the past. It may not be "deep", but I'll reread it sometime when I'm in the mood for a story I know I'll enjoy.

I've read other books by this author, and this is far from her best effort. I couldn't ever really get involved with the characters. They just weren't interesting enough to make me care one way or the other. A better introduction to Ms. Durgin's work is "A Feral Darkness".

Blaine always wanted more to her life than what was typically expected of females in Shadow Hollers. When she sees a group of strangers in her town and meets a man named Dacey, she gets her wish (although not exactly in the way she had hoped). Dacey is one of the last people of the seer's blood and the only one who knows how to stop the invaders, who are called the Annekteh. Together, he and Blaine must battle the Annekteh in order to save her family and friends.

The characters in Seer's Blood were likeable and easy to relate to. Blaine refuses to conform to society's expectations of women. It's refreshing to see a strong lead female character, in addition to a strong male. I felt the same emotions as the characters throughout the book.

In addition, the setting was wonderful (obviously, Doranna Durgin has done lots of research on Appalachia). The only drawback to this book (and the reason I gave it four stars instead of five) is the use of the dialect. Many of the words are similar and therefore easy to mix up (personally, I had trouble figuring out what some of them meant, too). As a result of this, I basically had no idea what was going on for the first few chapters. My recommendation for other readers is to learn what the terms mean early on.

However, aside from all of my personal confusion, everything about Seer's Blood was great. Durgin is a very talented author and I hope to read more of her books soon. This was one of the best fantasy books I've read in a long time!

Strangers have arrived in Shadow Hollers in search of the old magic in the hills, magic that has been long forgotten by the people who live there. But one man, Dacey Childers, the last of the lost seer's blood, has also come to Shadow Hollers to warn the people of the coming danger that the strangers, the Annekteh, pose. No one believes him except for one young woman, Blaine Kendricks, who is soon drawn into his magic and his adventure. It is up to the two of them to save the Hollers from the Annektah, the Takers, who intend to steal the magic from the mountains and to make the magic, and the land, their own.

SEER'S BLOOD is a fast-paced magical adventure. Doranna Durgin imbues her characters with heart and soul, making the reader care about them in ways that are rare in fiction. Ms. Durgin gets better with every book she writes. Each new book by this author is a must read. SEER'S BLOOD is the first book in years that actually made me cry. The climax of the book is heart-rending. You can feel the pain of the characters as they carry out their goals, despite the pain and suffering it causes, trying to save the Hollers from the Annekteh.

Some people, when reading this book, may find that they have some trouble with the dialect used to reflect the Appalachian region in which the setting of this book was framed. I did, at first, but as I got deeper into the story, the dialect started to sound natural to me and I found that it added to the overall flavor of the book, enhancing the experience of the book.

The characters have appeal, the pacing moves briskly, and Durgin is especially good with animals, but the style really trips her up. The constant flow of little cliches dulls the overall effect, and makes it hard to care about the story.