Amethyst

When Amethyst receives a summons from Lord Granite to leave her clayey cave-like home and travel to Malachite Mountain she doesn’t know what to expect. Sent on a mission to live with the Wood people down in the valley, she is surprised – finding that despite her upbringing as a cold-loving ‘Rock’ she begins to enjoy the comforts of the softer, warmer life of the Woods. In particular she cannot resist the true friendship of Copper Beech, half Rock, half Wood, whom she is supposed to betray. An exhilarating chase adventure ensues before Amethyst is forced to concede that the divisions between the peoples is an artificial one and that she has been double-crossed by Granite, as she learns to value friendship over the life of luxury and privilege she has sought.

Lisle’s characterisation of Amethyst as she develops her feeling side, slowly shedding her image of herself as a ‘spoiler’ of things and recognising that she wants the warmth that friendship gives her is convincingly done, and the story is a compelling one, reminding us that our prejudices and received preconceptions of other people should be scrutinised. I particularly liked the way that Amethyst’s inner doubts keep creeping back, challenging each new feeling as it begins to develop. This is the stand-alone sequel to Copper : there’s scope for further exploration of the themes touched on here so perhaps more will follow.