Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier

The latest novel from Juliet Marillier is the YA fantasy Cybele's Secret. This is a sequel to Wildwood Dancing, although it works as a standalone. It's wonderfully romantic - not just in terms of the love story, which complements the plot rather than defining it, but as a quest story, most of which takes place in early Ottoman Istanbul.

Paula and her merchant father are there in attempt to get hold of Cybele's Gift, an artefact said to contain the last words of a goddess, and to grant prosperity upon whoever possesses it. But competition for the item is fierce - and dangerous. Rumour tells of a Cybele worshipping cult that has sprung up, whom the Islamic leaders of the city would like to be rid of. And the cult too are after the artefact.

At the same time, Paula starts seeing visions of her sister Tati, who lives in the Other World now. Tati has a mission for Paula -if only Paula can figure out what it is. Cybele's Secret is filled with such mystery, with the magic beneath the world. But ordinary life imposes on Paula too, as a young woman visiting in a culture where she cannot go unchaperoned. Paula feels stifled, but of course it turns out her father's fears are not unjustified - and Paula does not know whom she can trust.

She does develop a quick rapport with her bodyguard Stoyan, for all she is a merchant's daughter and a scholar, he an illiterate farmer. It is Stoyan who is Paula's greatest aid in her quest, and it is Stoyan whom she comes to love. Which was what I expected from Marillier, though I myself preferred the more ambiguous character of Duarte. He and Paula get along like a house on fire; their interactions formed my favourite scenes. But whilst it is Duarte who is Paula's intellectual equal, it is Stoyan, I suppose, who is her complement. But he himself is all too aware of their relative positions, and love is not an easy thing for either of them to declare.

Juliet Marillier used to be one of my favourite authors; disillusionment with her brand of true love had been putting me off her stories, so I didn't pick this up to read straight away. I'm glad I did - it was a thoroughly enjoyable and enchanting read that I cannot here do justice to.