General Questions--to be used with future readings also
1. What traits make the protagonist attractive, believable, and/or sympathetic?
2. Is the plot straight-forward or full of sub-plots and/or back-flashes? What might the writer gain by this approach?
3. What seems to be the climax of the story (once you have read the complete story)?
4. What is the setting (time and place) and how important is it to the story (find concrete examples)?
5. Who or what is an antagonist (a person, thing, or the environment that causes the conflict for the protagonist)? Recall that the antagonist may be an interior conflict in the protagonist.
6. Does the protagonist have a foil (another character that by similarity or contrast brings out elements in the personality of the protagonist)? If so, comment on how that character is operating in the story.
7. Compare/contrast different elements of this story with the other stories we've read. What influence or shared elements are evident? What seems borrowed (especially from Tolkien and Lewis)?
8. How does this story seem to reflect and respond to modern day culture and challenges?

 BTS Chapters 6-10
1. What characteristics of Kethry and Tarma make them stand out? Which, if any, of Kethry's characteristics does Kero share?
2. Kero tells why she doesn't want to reveal her "gift" to Kethry. Do any of these reasons seem contrived? Might there be others she doesn't consider or that she hides from herself? If so, what might these be?
3. Without having read any of the other novels, why might we guess Lackey created a clan composed of orphans and adoptees? [I am guessing that the tribe is Shin 'a' in but the clan is Tale 'sedrin.]
4. How does Kero "grow" during her time with Kethry and Tarma?
5. What are the important lessons Kero learns in her relationship with Daren?
6. Why do Daren and Kero have different roles for the strategy games Tarma plays with them?

 BTS Chapters 11-13
1. How does Kerowyn's "call" compare with Eldan's?
2. In what ways does Lackey make the book independent of the other books of the Valdemar series?
3. Why might Lackey spend so much time establishing Kero's relationship with Need?
4. Why does Lackey skip over the first three years with the mercenaries?
5. How convincing is Kero's relationship with Eldan? Explain.
6. If you haven't read ahead, make an educated guess at what place Kero might have in Valdemar? What leads you to this conclusion?