Home > Books & Magazines > Printed Book >

Cybele's Secret - Juliet Marillier

Description: ISBN 1405052058 / Author: Juliet Marillier / Genre: Junior Books / Publisher: Tor / At seventeen, scholarly Paula embarks on an adventure ... more

Cybele's Secret - Juliet Marillier ... a trip to Istanbul with her merchant father, Teodor, to purchase an ancient artefact known as Cybele's Gift. Paula's fervent wish to rediscover the mysterious Other Kingdom, the realm she and her sisters visited as children, has been replaced by a more practical ambition: to become a trader in books and manuscripts. But the ways of the Other Kingdom are never predictable. Clues and whispers soon convince Paula that she has been set a magical quest and that the person laying the trail may be her lost sister Tati. Competition for Cybele's Gift is fierce, and Paula and Teodor soon find themselves in deadly danger in the great Ottoman city. Their protector against worldly perils is their hired guard, Stoyan, a young man with secrets of his own. When the artefact is finally unveiled, Paula finds herself on a wild chase by sea and land, accompanied by an unlikely pair of companions in adventure. Puzzles, riddles, tests of strength and of loyalty lie before them, and the price of failure is death. Along the way, there are lessons to be learned in wisdom, trust and love.

Newest Review: ... and learns about different places and cultures, often while performing feats of bravery and/or chivalry. The evocation of ... more

... Ottoman Istanbul is excellent in "Cybele's Secret", and the "edutainment" parts link fairly seamlessly to the main narrative. I enjoyed that a lot, and I also liked the narrator and the main character: strong willed, confident, intelligent and mostly sensible, but not without weaknesses to overcome (after all, an adventure without moral and character trial is an empty one). The love angle is subtle, but exciting enough, what with a dashing, cultured, nobleman-pirate (!!) and a dependable and astute...more

Read Reviews for Cybele's Secret - Juliet Maril...

Cybele's Secret - Juliet Marillier: Turkish Delights (616 words)
by - written on 15/04/08 (Very useful, 52 readings)
Rating:

"Cybele's Secret" is a sequel to "Wildwood Dancing", an earlier teen fantasy adventure set in Romanian forests. It can be easily read as a stand-alone-novel. It's narrated by Paula, the scholarly of the sisters that were introduced in the previous novel, and it follows her on a trading trip to Istanbul with her father. It's not a normal trip, though, as they are looking to purchase a mysterious and ancient artifact known as Cybele's Gift. It links to mysterious old cult, possibly undergoing revival and has supposedly magical powers, able to bring amazing rewards, but in the wrong hands capable of inflicting great misery. There is a strong ... Read the complete review