The Restorer by Sharon Hinck

When reading fantasy books, I generally apply two arbitrary criteria that I have found useful in determining books I like. The first is I look for the willingness of the author to kill important characters — not secondary or briefly mentioned characters. I've always felt that to do so was brave and showed a willingness to push the story's limits rather than following a predictable course. The second is actually from Aristotle’s Poetics. Summarized, Aristotle says the primary character must be believable. In essence, the character must be more human than superhuman. No one wants to read about the perfect man doing great things (i.e. early Superman). No, the reader prefers the character to suffer and overcome those sufferings (whether external or internal), thus creating a true hero (i.e. Batman or Spider-man).

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