River Secrets - 5 stars

     River Secrets, the third book in The Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale, is a strikingly different book from the two previous ones. This book is narrated by Razo, unganly, awkward Razo, boy from the Forest and one of Isi's closest friends. Although he is not a very good warrior, for his heroic deeds on Isi's behalf in The Goose Girl he is part of Bayern's Own, a group of elite troops. And in this book, the kingdom if Tira and the kingdom of Bayern are slowly trying to mend their old alliances after the devastating war between them which took place in Enna Burning. And Bayern's Own is going to Tira as part of a diplomatic mission to help make peace.

But when they get to Tira, things are not all as they seem. The people of Tira are not particularly happy to see the representatives of Bayern, and to make things even more serious, bodies have been found. Blackened, burnt bodies. The leader of the Bayern representatives in Tira asks Razo to find out who is doing the burning, but it may turn out to be more than Razo can do alone. He may need to ask for help from some unlikely people, such as the Prince of Tira, and Dasha, a noble Tiran lady. A lady that he might be falling in love with. And there's also the danger that it could be Razo's friend Enna. Is her gift out of control again? Is she killing without even realizing it?

River Secrets is a much more jovial story than the rest of the series. Razo is a light-hearted character with a sense of humor that never shuts up, and you can count on a laugh every page or two. He's also irresistibly charming and endearing as a narrator. I couldn't help but root for him, even if I did find him annoyingly clueless and thick-headed from time to time. Razo is one of those characters you just can't help but like.

     Once again, River Secrets brings back some old characters and includes some new ones. Enna and Finn are important returning characters, and Dasha and the prince of Tira are new ones that I particularly liked. Although this book was far less serious in tone than Enna Burning and even The Goose Girl, it was far from trivial, and I definitely enjoyed this addition to the series. It was a meaningful story about loyalty and love that was fun and entertaining to read.

Link to author website: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html