The Taker's Key

Margaret Bunel Edwards is the author of The Ocean Between and The ABCs
of Writing for Children.

This is the third book in a trilogy that follows the adventures of a
young wizard, Marwen of Marma-well. In book one, The Dragon’s Tapestry
(1992), Marwen vanquishes Perdoneg the dragon in her quest to find the
tapestry that will reveal her fate. In book two, The Prism Moon (1993),
Marwen battles the terrifying power of the Prism Moon as she tries to
hold onto the great wizard’s staff. In this final instalment, Marwen,
who is losing her powers, must gain possession of the magical Taker’s
Key if she is to defeat her old nemesis, Perdoneg the dragon. Possessing
the Key will also give her the power to create things that exist only in
her imagination.

To learn more about the Key, Marwen works for Oldwives in distant
villages in exchange for a place at the storyfire. There she discovers
that Taker, an old woman who is the spirit of death, holds the key.
Marwen must find Taker. But her apprentice, Tiu, has gone missing in the
desert between the living and the dead. As Marwen and a band of Oldwives
try to cross the dangerous desert, they come upon the three weaving
sisters who record all things in their tapestries. The sisters know
nothing of the Key, but Marwen, who is secretly married to Prince
Camlach, is going to have a child—a child the dragon wishes to
destroy. When the Marwen finally encounters Per-doneg, she comes to
realize that only if she relinquishes her powers will there be peace in
the land.

The Taker’s Key features a complex storyline, vivid descriptions, and
prose that flows as smoothly as the plot. Young readers of this
intriguing story will be inspired to read the first two books. Highly
recommended.