In the land of Hoad, magicians are powerful people. Which is why, when Heriot runs away from his future at the king’s side, someone immediately tries to kill him. Heriot cannot help himself, he is drawn to the turning points in Hoad’s history, and is part of the very fabric of the land itself. But Heriot has been damaged, altered by a rival magician when he was an infant. In a way, he has been torn in two, and his other half is in a royal prince. Together, with the extraordinary girls who love them, they have to make each other, and Hoad, whole.

This is an extraordinary narrative, written masterfully by Mahy. The language is rich and expressive, with words often used slightly differently than in normal speech or text. The world of Hoad is beautifully imagined, with great depth. And the action, when it happens, is often surprising and inventive, with plot twists and playful settings. But despite the action, adventure, magic and intrigue, this is a story about consciousness and identity. The two don’t always work well together, and Heriot can be an irritatingly dreamy point of view when, say, he asks to be locked into a zoo in an orgy of remorse. But that is part of what Heriot is, and the reader, like the character himself, will need to accept it in order to reach the wonderfully satisfying end.

2009-08-30