if this story had a twenty something heroine who did not age much and a plot that progressed from coming of age thru trials and tribulations to happily ever after would we all jump for joy and up our ratings to five stars ? maybe we should ?

bcs if you are looking for a fantasy action novel with a female protagonist who does ALL the normal hero stuff like fight and lead and intrigue and bide her time and politic AND all the normal fantasy heroine stuff like travel by land and sea and obtain the trapppings of wealth, and fall in love (twice) and dance and make love and bear children and see them grow and overcome terrible odds and show bravery it's all here - and that's actually quite a life for one woman to experience - but duncan doesn't stop there - this woman will also age and not always gracefully, she will rage and not always politely, she will feel not just a mother's protectiveness toward her child but also a mother's fears, despairs, disappointments. And who wants to read a book that ends with an old woman looking back on a less than fairy tale life amidst imperfect people ? even in (especially in ?) a fantasy story ? it's like a romantic tragedy version of glory road but with a girl in the driver's seat - i'm upping my star rating right now just for 1) young woman ages and old woman leads 2) female head of household with a mature fulfilled love relationship 3)no authority without politics accompanying 4) no violence without victims 5)no sea without drowning 6) no food without the starving 7) no sure thing !