Subject: _Sacred Ground_, by Mercedes Lackey

From: [email-masked] (Sean Eric Fagan)
Date: 20 Feb 94 22:03:46 GMT

In my mind, there are two parts of a review of a Mercedes Lackey (or any
other established author, for that matter) book:  the story, and the author.

For a while, Lackey's writing was only barely acceptable, at best, and
not worth reading, at worst.  Fortunately, she seems to have gotten past
that, and is now a decent writer again.  If I were to ignore everything
else Lackey has written, I would say that SG is a perfectly acceptable
modern-day fantasy novel, and would recommend it to those who liked that
sort of work.  I would also recommend getting it in paperback, of course,
not hardcover.

However, since I have read almost every book she has written (I have
ignored the Piers Anthony coauthored book, and I refuse to read any of
the Bardic Tales after the first one, since that one was so bad), it is
virtually impossible to ignore her previous writings.

I thought about opening this review with:  What would you have if
Diana Trelgarde were a Native American Indian shaman, instead of a
Guardian, and a private investigator instead of a romance novelist?  You
would probably get something that read exactly like Ground.

_Sacred Ground_ is the story of a Medicine Woman, Kestrel, who works as
a private investigator.  In her spare time, she also tracks down and returns
sacred Indian artifacts.  The plot is very unique to all of this, and
Diana Trelgarde would never run into something quite like this.

But the book reads like one of her stories anyway.  Mind you, it is much
better than _Jinx High_, and possibly better than any of the Trelgarde
novels.  Although there is not less lecturing and preaching, it is better
done, I thought (I only got annoyed at a couple of places, instead of
the more usualy half dozen or so in other books).

If you are a Lackey fan, then, as with the past couple of books of hers
I've read, I'd have to say it's a definite recommendation.  If you're
a fan of modern-day-fantasy-with-investigation, then I'd also recommend
it -- although I might also recommend that you get it in paperback, or
find a used copy of the hardcover.

If you've never read a Lackey before, this might not be a bad place to
start.  Except, again, for the fact that it's a hardcover book.  (Maybe
I'm being too cynical, but, while it's a good book, I don't think it's
quite *that* good.)

If I were to rate it on a -5 to +5 scale, I'd give it about +2.5.

%T Sacred Ground
%A Mercedes Lackey
%I Tor Books
%G ISBN 0-312-85281-9
%D March 1994
%P 381 pages