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Instrument of Fate
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Plot Summary of Instrument of Fate
"A young woman is given a lute by a poisoned stranger on the condition that she deliver it to a royal character elsewhere in the country (where she must travel for a musical competition anyway) and she later wittnesses him being devoured by a fierce shape-shifter. When she returns home, her entire family has also been murdered in the same fasion and she is blamed as the killer and runs, with only her lute and trick pony, under the pursuit of the law and the shapeshifter who apparently wants the lute and wants her as a meal. The lute becomes special to her because she can communicate with it. Along the way, she is helped by an alcoholic ex-soldier. A mysterious elf had hired the soldier to protect the lute and ensure that it was delivered at any cost. The young woman is kidnapped, and the lute and the soldier force the elf (who does not want to be directly involved) to help them save her instead of leaving her behind to deliver the instrument. She is rescued, but has been raped (by the same people who had once raped the soldier; hence the drinking problem). "
C.M.B., Resident Scholar

"Finally, life was starting to go well for Gillian Songspynner. She had just won the regional bard title and was on her way to compete at The Castle for the king. But on her way down the stairs, she tripped and crushed her mandolin. Jencir, an elvish bard, begs her to take his lute, a beautifully crafted instrument with a gorgeous tone to the Elf Queen at The Castle. She cannot refuse. However, she later rethinks the elf's largess and goes in search of him. She finds Jencir, only to witness his brutal murder by a dark creature. She flees to her family, but finds that they suffered the same fate. She feels that she has no choice but to take up the dead elf's quest and to try and avenge her family's death. On her way to the Elf Queen, she will be stalked by a demon, sold into slavery, helped by kindly priests, attacked by hideous man-sized rodents and that is just the beginning..."
Debbie, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Instrument of Fate
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%




Tone of book - scarey (primal ax-wielding fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - an adult (general)
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
magical powers: - bad magical powers hunting non/weaker magical(s) (fantasy)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - musician
Age: - a teen
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - Prince/Nobleman/King
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can change shapes - super strength - is very quick
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Dumb - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - bulging muscles - very athletic

Setting
Terrain - Forests
Earth setting: - general past - during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths - very explicit references to deaths and torture
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Instrument of Fate
The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey
The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold
Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin


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