Smitten by Books

Woman Of Honor
Author: Nicole Zoltack
Publisher: Desert Breeze Publishing
Pub. Date: March 27, 2010
Retail: $5.99
165 pages

Aislinn of Bairdhe dreams of becoming a lady knight to honor the death of her fallen brother. To her mother’s horror, King Patrick grants Aislinn’s wish and she begins her long years of training.

Despite the mockery of the other pages, and the disdain of Prince Caelan who also trains to be a knight, Aislinn commits herself to her dreams and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and bravery. Through the years, Aislinn and Caelan grow from sparing classmates to good friends. They both know that someday Caelan will marry for the sake of the kingdom, but even that cannot keep them from falling in love.

The threat of war with the Speicans is a constant threat, and one that grows more frightening as she and Caelan train toward their eventual knighthood. Aislinn has committed herself to serving Arnhem, and has promised herself as King’s Champion when Caelan claims the throne. She is willing to give up everything… her childhood, her life, even her heart for Arnhem. No matter the pain it brings.

~*~*~

I like and appreciate reading different genres, so I kept an open mind approaching this historical fantasy by Nicole Zoltack anticipating the read. And then, re-approaching, this novel.

While I think she has a very good idea – that of a Woman Knight – and considerable knowledge of the subject, as well as very credible dialogue and scenes, I started out and regrettably, remained confused or struggling to get my bearings making this a DNF for me.

Woman of Honor apparently revolves around the mythical Kingdom of Arnhem and a young woman’s quest – Aislinn of Bairbhe – to become the first Female Knight for King Patrick in her deceased brother‘s stead.

A lack of world-building jarred me as I tried to find my way about Arnhem, the young people persevering through their knighthood training and their mission against a presumed enemy/on behalf of the kingdom.

After convincing the king to accept her petition, Aislinn finds a tutor and friend in Geoffrey, warily befriends Prince Caelan and avoids rival, Adamina. Readers definitely have a sense of place and rivalry in this 12th century AD land, and feel and understand the suffering and relentless instruction of these very young would-be knights and pages. But this seemed more like the diary of a young girl in a rigorous academy than anything as we spend day-after-day training with her.

For me, the title – Woman of Honor – is a misnomer and therefore was misleading in my expectations of the book. When a girl of nearly eight responded with the maturity of seasoned young woman – ordering servants and responding with quick retorts to adults and noblemen – I was taken out of the setting and forced to ask myself if someone that age would really act or respond in such a manner. And therein began my struggle.

By noting that an age in Arnhem was the equivalent to say 21 in other Kingdoms as part of the world-building, that would have greatly assisted and not pulled me out of the reading so consistently. This was also true of Aislinn’s fellow students (many of whom appeared to be within a year of Aislinn’s age) while King Patrick seemed more of a kindly grandfather in direct contrast to those who surrounded him in his court.

Again, the premise is a good one with dialogue and setting earning merits, but this work was fraught with a lack of world-building, too much telling and distracting typos that further marred the author’s valiant effort.

In fairness, I read a little more than a quarter of the way through the book but did not feel able to continue as I was constantly having to stop and try to figure it out or muddle through another day of detailed training exercises.

I hope the author will keep working at this – it really has the potential to be a great offering to the historical fantasy category.

Rating: DNF (Do Not Finish)

Heat-Level: 2 (Warm)