I like the fact that Keelin, the protagonist, seems to be a strong and determined female. In addition, she has a connection with animals, and I've been an animal lover my entire life, so I felt some connection to Keelin. Although I was never a fan of medieval type literature when I was in school, this excerpt sounded more modern in a way. For some reason, I was expecting a book that immediately established a strong historical basis. This one is going to be all fictitious - or is it? This was a very short excerpt, so perhaps I can not evaluate this book fairly.