DAUGHTER OF EXILE

Romance fans looking for an entrée into fantasy could do worse than to start with Glass's accessible debut, which includes nearly every convention of the genre, from giants, shape-changers and zombie-like creatures to civil war, dungeons and some mild torture. In the kingdom of Kerededin, spunky young Lady Angarred Hashan lives with her widowed father, Lord Challo Hashan, at their backwoods estate, Hashan Hall. Having been exiled from King Tezue's court 14 years earlier, Lord Hashan is too obsessed with plotting his revenge to pay much attention to the upbringing of his headstrong daughter. When a hired assassin kills Lord Hashan with a single arrow shot while he's hunting in the forest, Angarred has her own terrible wrong to right. First, she travels to the capital city of Pergodi to seek an audience with the king to beg for justice. Later, she journeys hither and yon with Mathewar, a magician she meets in Pergodi, to discover who's behind the evil besetting the court. Characters tend to deal with each other in a straightforward manner that never raises any questions about their motives. After many romantic turns and much metaphoric fluttering of eyelashes, Angarred has to make some hard choices among her various suitors. Those who like their fantasy with deeper layers of meaning should go elsewhere. (Mar. 8)