- Find all the latest books, toys, games and DVDs from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in our Harry Potter store.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'the most original new fiction of this kind ... equally appealing to boys. Here be dragons, sorcery and battles, but Kaaberbol's thrilling and thoughtful series is really about perceiving the limitations and deceits of adulthood.' (The Times )
The Shamer's Daughter: '[A] fine novel ... The term 'page-turner' is often used but not always justified. It is deserved here, tenfold. I really, really couldn't put the book down.' (The School Librarian )
'Full of passion' (Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian )
The Shamer's Daughter: '[A] fine novel ... The term 'page-turner' is often used but not always justified. It is deserved here, tenfold. I really, really couldn't put the book down.' (The School Librarian )
'Full of passion' (Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian )
Product Description
Dina has the Shamer’s Gift – one look into her eyes, and none can mask their guilt or hide their shame. Now even her brother, Davin, no longer dares to meet her glance. His conscience is troubled by his mother and sister's power, and he wants to avenge the crimes committed against his family with a battle by the sword.
But these are treacherous times and Dina’s life is in terrible danger. Kidnapped by the corrupt Valdracu, she is forced to use her gift as a weapon. And Davin becomes her only hope of escape … (20050226)
But these are treacherous times and Dina’s life is in terrible danger. Kidnapped by the corrupt Valdracu, she is forced to use her gift as a weapon. And Davin becomes her only hope of escape … (20050226)
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I hadn't read the first book in this series, The Shamer's Daughter, but if it's half as good as its sequel it is a must-read. Not since N.M. Browne's Warriors of Alavna has an author created such a convincing and exciting world, on the edge of civilsation, magic and mystery.
The story is narrated by the Shamer's two children - Dina, who has inherited her monther's gift of being able to look into people's eyes and see their shame or guilt. Not surprisingly, this is an uncomfortable gift, and her own brother Davin, who is more interested in learning to fight than looking after his kinswomen, finds he no longer wants to look her in the eye. But when Dina and her mother are tricked by the evil Valdracu's men into going with them, and nearly killed, Davin sets off in hotheaded pursuit of the clansman he believes, wrongly, to have assaulted them. Clan war is narrowly averted, but next time the Valdracu succeeds, and threatens to kill DIna's companion, a small grandson of a chieftainess if she does not use her gift to terrorise his slaves.
What is so good about the book is that it blends an essentially moral idea with a vivid story, packed with details about the harshness of life in the Highlands. This is a world that has been thought through and made real in every detail.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Just like the reviewer before me, I too have started the series with this book, the second in the Shamer's series. In fact when I was looking at the books on the bookshop's shelves I had trouble working out which one came first as the covers didn't say! In the end I picked this, which I now know follows on from "The Shamer's Daughter".
Having read a number of other children's fantasy novels recently I didn't have great expectations for this one. It's not that I hadn't heard great things about it - in fact I hadn't heard anything at all about the series or author before I picked it up! It's just that I didn't think I could be so lucky as to find yet another well-written fantasy that I would love!! Following on from reading other great authors like Catherine Fisher, Cliff McNish and Michelle Paver, I just didn't think I'd find book I like as much... but I have!!
This book follows the adventures of (and is alternately narrated by) 11-year-old Dina, and her elder brother, Davin. Dina has inherited from her mother a special quality, The "Shamer's Gift". This gift is not unique to Dina and her mother (as each clan will have its own shamers). However, it is powerful. It compels those who look into the eyes of the Shamer to search their own conscience, to see their own wrongdoings, and to confess and feel shame for committing such acts. The Shamer is a kind of public figure who can be called upon to seek out guilty culprits and settle disputes.
It is this role of the Shamer which brings a fresh moral twist to an otherwise action-packed good vs evil fantasy tale. Indeed, in the society we live in today (often without shame) wouldn't the Shamer be a useful figure to have around?! Beware, however, the powers of this gift, as Dina has to discover when she is forced to use this powerful gift of good, as a weapon in the hands of an evil Lord... Can Davin reach her in time?
Thoroughly recommended!
Having read a number of other children's fantasy novels recently I didn't have great expectations for this one. It's not that I hadn't heard great things about it - in fact I hadn't heard anything at all about the series or author before I picked it up! It's just that I didn't think I could be so lucky as to find yet another well-written fantasy that I would love!! Following on from reading other great authors like Catherine Fisher, Cliff McNish and Michelle Paver, I just didn't think I'd find book I like as much... but I have!!
This book follows the adventures of (and is alternately narrated by) 11-year-old Dina, and her elder brother, Davin. Dina has inherited from her mother a special quality, The "Shamer's Gift". This gift is not unique to Dina and her mother (as each clan will have its own shamers). However, it is powerful. It compels those who look into the eyes of the Shamer to search their own conscience, to see their own wrongdoings, and to confess and feel shame for committing such acts. The Shamer is a kind of public figure who can be called upon to seek out guilty culprits and settle disputes.
It is this role of the Shamer which brings a fresh moral twist to an otherwise action-packed good vs evil fantasy tale. Indeed, in the society we live in today (often without shame) wouldn't the Shamer be a useful figure to have around?! Beware, however, the powers of this gift, as Dina has to discover when she is forced to use this powerful gift of good, as a weapon in the hands of an evil Lord... Can Davin reach her in time?
Thoroughly recommended!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Another great installment
8 Jun 2006
Format:Hardcover
Warning: Spoilers in text
In this 2 novel of the Shamer Chronicles, Lene Kaaberbol continues the story that first started out in The Shamer's Daughter.
10 year old Dina, her family, and their assorted friends move to the Highlands for refuge from the Dragonlord, Drakan. The story first starts out with Dina and her mother on their frequent journeys that require the Shamer's services (a Shamer is able to look a person in the eye and shame them with past acts.)However, when traveling with a man that tricks them under the guise of a member of the Laclan Clan, an ambush catches both Dina and her mother by surprise, gravely injuring Dina's mother.
When their mother proves to be recovering and okay, Davin, Dina's brother, swears to kill the man who betrayed and then tried to murder his sister and mother. Davin, who is 16 years old, is still confused about his adolesence and tries to make his family proud of him by learning the ways of the warrior. Unfortunately for him, everyone treats him as "the Shamer's boy" rather than the man he wants to be seen as.
While Davin is away, secretly searching for the men who ambushed his mother, Dina finds out his plan and leaves her home to stop him. Soon after, Dina is captured by the very men who previously ambushed her and she shockingly discovers that the culprit is named Valdracu, cousin to Drakan. Her capture soon leads her friends to search for her, Davin being prominent among them.
Meanwhile, a war is starting between Dina's clan (more accurately, the clan that protects her family) and the Laclan clan over a matter of killed sheep.
The story then leads towards rescue attempts, the value of friendship, and the meaning of love.
I believe that this is a great story because of the well written plot and the detailed writing. Kaaberbol understands the feelings of friends under pressure, teenagers, and love when it is strained. She takes her time writing and developing each section of the story before moving on to the next.
Kaaberbol also knows how to keep the reader hanging and just waiting to turn to the next page.
The only problem I have with the Shamer's Signet (the signet represents Dina's apprenticeship to her mother), is that the plot doesn't really have a point. By the end of the novel, most of the enemies are killed or imprisoned and the war is over. How does all this contribute to the actual series? However, not having read the sequels yet (The Serpent Gift and The Shamer's War), I will say that this was an excellent novel.
A must read for teens because the writing is great and the literary quality, wonderful. Not a great book for kids because violence and cruelty are very prominent in this book.
In this 2 novel of the Shamer Chronicles, Lene Kaaberbol continues the story that first started out in The Shamer's Daughter.
10 year old Dina, her family, and their assorted friends move to the Highlands for refuge from the Dragonlord, Drakan. The story first starts out with Dina and her mother on their frequent journeys that require the Shamer's services (a Shamer is able to look a person in the eye and shame them with past acts.)However, when traveling with a man that tricks them under the guise of a member of the Laclan Clan, an ambush catches both Dina and her mother by surprise, gravely injuring Dina's mother.
When their mother proves to be recovering and okay, Davin, Dina's brother, swears to kill the man who betrayed and then tried to murder his sister and mother. Davin, who is 16 years old, is still confused about his adolesence and tries to make his family proud of him by learning the ways of the warrior. Unfortunately for him, everyone treats him as "the Shamer's boy" rather than the man he wants to be seen as.
While Davin is away, secretly searching for the men who ambushed his mother, Dina finds out his plan and leaves her home to stop him. Soon after, Dina is captured by the very men who previously ambushed her and she shockingly discovers that the culprit is named Valdracu, cousin to Drakan. Her capture soon leads her friends to search for her, Davin being prominent among them.
Meanwhile, a war is starting between Dina's clan (more accurately, the clan that protects her family) and the Laclan clan over a matter of killed sheep.
The story then leads towards rescue attempts, the value of friendship, and the meaning of love.
I believe that this is a great story because of the well written plot and the detailed writing. Kaaberbol understands the feelings of friends under pressure, teenagers, and love when it is strained. She takes her time writing and developing each section of the story before moving on to the next.
Kaaberbol also knows how to keep the reader hanging and just waiting to turn to the next page.
The only problem I have with the Shamer's Signet (the signet represents Dina's apprenticeship to her mother), is that the plot doesn't really have a point. By the end of the novel, most of the enemies are killed or imprisoned and the war is over. How does all this contribute to the actual series? However, not having read the sequels yet (The Serpent Gift and The Shamer's War), I will say that this was an excellent novel.
A must read for teens because the writing is great and the literary quality, wonderful. Not a great book for kids because violence and cruelty are very prominent in this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
The Shamer's Signet
6 Aug 2005
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Wow! I love this series. It just keeps getting better and better. Dina and Davin have more adventure in this book. I was left wanting more when I finished this book. This is a wonderly written story with great imagination. Yet it is something we can relate to. The look one is given when a teacher or a parent knows you have done wrong can bring shame to us even without the shamer's eyes. I think that even though I would call this book a fantasy it also holds so many truths. If you haven't read the Shamer's Daughter I strongly suggest you do and then read the Shamer's Signet. I can also tell you that book 3 and 4, The Serpent Gift and The Shamer's War, are just as good and maybe better. Read them all and enjoy!
Shamer Chonicles
20 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful series for teens and adults alike. I found this in the juvenile section of the library, but it is wonderful for moms like me. If you like the pace of Harry Potter books (especially the earlier ones) then you'll love the entire Shamer series. This is a fun must read.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
