The Bitterbynde Trilogy - Book One - The Ill Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Synopsis
A landmark publication in the world of Fantasy writing In a world where creatures of legend haunt the lands of men, and to be caught outside after dark means almost certain death, the inhabitants of Isse Tower are amazed when a mute, starving foundling is discovered outside their gates. With no recollection of her name or past, the girl soon realizes that her only hope of happiness lies in distant Caermalor, where a wise woman might be able to restore her memories. To get there, Imrhien must survive a wilderness of endless danger. Lost and pursued by unhuman wights, Imrhien is saved by Thorn, a mysterious, handsome ranger who becomes her protector-and the object of her hopeless love. But unknown to them, a dark force summons the Unseelie, and malignant hordes amass in the night.

My View
I have to start by saying aaaaaaaaah! This IMHO is fantasy at its best, I have read this before but, for some reason never got round to reading the other two in the trilogy so a perfect excuse for a re-read. If you have read any of the reviews of this book on Amazon I think this book is a perfect example of trying it yourself and making up your own mind. Yes it is long in parts and some may find it quite drawn out by Cecilia is such a word weaver I personally didn't find it drawn out at all.

There isn't a huge plot the book is essentially about a facially scarred mute who begins a journey to find someone to heal her and the book is mostly Imrhien's journey to find this healer.

Cecilia has created a truly magical world and she is one of my favourite authors (and I've only read this book, I guess that tells how much I love this!) so if after reading the reviews you thought to give this a miss please don't its easy to overlook this as a laboriously long read with not a huge plot within its pages but, you will be missing out on a beautifully written book!