Naamah's Kiss: not my usual fare

When it comes to reading, I am a historical fiction, contemporary romance, and mystery gal. But every once in a while I try something else and usually enjoy it, as I did with The Host by Stephenie Myer. Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey is another outside my usual choices that I have really enjoyed. It is what I would call a fantasy-world book, where many things are familiar to the reader, yet fantastic elements such as magic, multiple gods, talking animals, etc., are key to the story. I went through a big phase in college where I read a lot of this genre, and Naamah's Kiss has re-awakened that enjoyment.

About the Book: Once there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn; the folk of the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts - the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow.
After Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine acceptance...on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in, Moirin's skills are a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, a noble warrior princess desperate to save her father's throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.
I was actually worried about Moirin when she set out on her quest to find her destiny, a testimony to the multi-dimensional writing of Ms. Carey. Although she has 2 magical gifts and is intelligent, she has led a sheltered life in the woods with only her mother for companionship. It is not until she is 8 that she meets another person and at 10 years old she finally meets another child, and then he only comes to her home, she does not venture into the more civilized world for several years. Because her gifts are of nature, and she has lived in the open all her life, the stone walls of man made shelters seem to choke her, cutting off her gifts, and making it difficult to breathe. A girl who has only ever hunted her own food, worn the same clothes until the fall apart, and never used money, enters a world of intrigue, thievery, and lust. Moirin handles most of it very elegantly for a girl of sixteen, a testament to the quiet strength given by her mother, Faiche.
Naamah's Kiss has all the elements of a great fantasy-adventure story, a tortured princess, a fight for a throne, magic, even a dragon! If you have not tried an other world fantasy before, Naamah's Kiss is easy to follow, and a wonderful tale of a young woman's strength and growth through her quest, both personal and geographical. My only caveat for some readers is that there are many graphic sexual situations, since Naamah is a goddess of pleasure. They can easily be skipped over to continue with the plot.