Following the suicide of their mother , Annat and Malchik are left to be raised by their aunt. Many years later the two are to spend six months with their estranged father, Yuda, to get to know who their father is.

Yuda Vasilyevich is a shaman, he has the ability to heal wounds and also to cause injury when required. It is a trait he has passed down to his daughter Annat, and she is just beginning to understand them and learning to control them.

Yuda and his children then travel to Gard Ademar in the frozen north lands, seemingly at the request of his friend Sergey to act as healer. But he is also there to investigate a series of mysterious deaths associated with a new railway tunnel. This places Yuda and his newly reunited family are drawn into a perilous situation...

Over the years it has become apparant to me that there seems to be two types of author. The first has a natural ability to write, whilst the second has to toil hard at his or her chosen craft. Both produce books of equal merit. To me, Jessica Rydill falls into the first category. Her writing style seems effortless and relaxed, as though she has but to pick up a pen and the words come flooding out.

This makes for an instantly addictive book. Jessica rapidly paints a vivid picture of her world, the peoples and religion. We meet the Wanderers - a people who observe a strict Sabbath (Kingsday), do not eat Pork and have regular prayer times and are forced to wear only black or brown.

One aspect that I particularly liked about this book is the way this world differs only slightly from the one we live in. It is though our reality has stepped sideways six inches, a familiar device in sf novels but refreshing different in a fantasy book. For example, the language seems based on French and German; the religion has similarities with Islam and Judaism. But in both cases they are just different enough to make an intriguing society

The two children have the feel of British World War II evacuees. Disconnected from everything that is familiar, carrying their few possessions in a bag and looking both fearfully and excitedly at the strange world thay have been thrust into. The certainly seems to have given them a deceptive vulnerability.

As the novel progresses the main group meet a number of unusual people, who, in keeping with the rest of the novel, are written so gracefully thay manage to be strange without being jarring to the reader.

Overall it is difficult to believe this is Jessica Rydill's first book. The whole writing style is one of a maturity that usually takes years of "practice" to acheive. If she maintains this easy writing style and well plotted narrative in her next books then we should have a bestselling author here.