Wren returns in a sequel to Wren to the Rescue, searching for her past while her friends delve into palace politics; meanwhile, Andreus isn't the only enemy playing shenanigans behind everyone's backs.

Book Title: Wren's Quest
Book Author: Sherwood Smith
Book Publisher: Firebird Fantasy (Penguin)
Release Date: May 24, 2004
Retail Price: $6.99
Buy it at: Various Outlets

Wren is back and at it again, this time searching for anything she can find about her biological parents and why she was left up for adoption in the orphanage. This is while Princess Teresa starts delving into the political world, as she learns just how best to handle all the various nobles and not-so-noble nobles that her parents work and live with every day. Tyron stays with Teresa, trying to help in the background, while Connor goes with Wren, providing companionship and help.

This book introduces more unsavory characters to fill out the villain side of the character roster, all of them fitting into the not-so-noble nobles category. My favorite one of which would be Hawk Riscarlan, who seems a bit too adept at surviving the political game, and having fun doing it. (Although he does make some significant blunders near the end of the book; you'll just have to read to find out what.)

We have more shape-shifting magic going on in this book. This time, Tyron goes fluffy and transforms into a dog for stealthy spying abilities. (No one censors their conversations if it's just a dog in the room with them.) Wren and Conner turn into mer...people type things. Or at least as close to merman and mermaid as people would get in a story like this. (Never understood why it wasn't merbutler to go with mermaid or merwoman to go with merman. Bah, semantics.)

Andreus is still on everyone's mind, especially after his last actions in the previous book. Whether he is the puppeteer causing all the problems in court is left tantalizingly hazy until the last few action-packed chapters. It definitely keeps you reading to find out just who's responsible for what.

The final few chapters round out all the pertinent subplots twisting about. From Wren's family history, to Connor's unusual abilities, to Teresa's second kidnapper, and more. It also creates new subplots that won't be addressed fully until the third book. (Like a fuller back-story of Wren's family, just how much can Conner do with his magic, how will Teresa lead a kingdom, or would it be queendom, with Andreus playing peek-a-boo all the time, and a few other tidbits that you'll want the third book for to find out about.) As with the other two books in this series, I have trouble justifying the full price for a book this short. This is more of a second-hand bookstore buy or a library borrow. All in all though, this was a solid sequel. Tune in next week to find out how the third book in the quodrology is. (Spoilers=It's really good.)

Have you read Wren's Quest? What did you think of the story? Leave a comment below to let me know.