Iron Tree

If Tolkien wrote romance, the result might be something like the first volume of Australian author DartThornton's new fantasy trilogy (after the Bitterbynde trilogy, which began with The IllMade Mute). While on a journey to discover more about his mysterious antecedents, Jarred, the book's handsome hero, meets the beauteous Lilith, who's cursed by ""a malediction of the bloodline"" that dooms one spouse of a pair to an early death while the other is ""driven mad by some delusion of being followed."" She cares for Jarred too much to wed and hurt him and their offspring. Jarred adds a second familial quest to his first in order to thwart the curse, and the lovers are soon involved in years of convoluted if fairly convincing adventures. Fueled by Celtic folklore, the novel is packed with unusual minor characters, including an eccentric queen obsessed with a single color at a time. The author's poetic pseudomedieval style, evidently inspired by Keats and Shakespeare, veers from the enchantingly effective to the occasionally irritating. The goblet brimmeth over with elements typical of epic fantasy (sorcerers, monsters, magic jewels, untold treasures, etc.) and of the currently fashionable subgenre of paranormal romance (otherworldly amour, supernatural goingson, great looks, good hair, etc.); the brew will undoubtedly prove popular. Agent, Martha Millard.