Song in the Silence

Tall and outspoken, much like the mother she never knew, Lanen Hadronsdatter, later to be known as Lanen Kaelar, ""the Far Traveller,"" is far from the meek, dutiful female her stepfather wants her to be. Not until after his death is Lanen able to leave home and set off on the journey she has always dreamed of making: sailing to the remote Dragon Isles, only source of the rare and potent lansip leaves used to defeat old age, in order to search for the mysterious True Dragons. Little does Lanen know that her yearnings were prophesied centuries before her birth. In the Dragon Isles, she will find a kindred spirit and an impossible love that will trap both her and her soul mate between the ages-old enmity of dragons and demons. Kerner's first novel suffers from frequent shifts in point-of-view, slow pacing and some convenient coincidences. Her lively characters and sense of adventure will appeal to fans of romantic fantasy, however. (Feb.)