Secret Sorceress (1983) is maybe the best of the series, though that isn’t really saying much. The main character is a sorceress living among barbarians, where magic is taboo, so she was raised to ignore her own talents. Which introduces an interesting tension. Or, at least it would if there was any instance where choosing to not use your magic ended in anything other than a fail state. But it doesn’t. So there you go. Use magic however much you like, despite years of being surrounded by people who view magic with deep suspicion.

That said, the main character actually feels like the main character and propels the action forward through her decisions. Her love interest (a wandering prince – are there a lot of those out there?) is capable as well, but equally so rather than overwhelmingly so.

Nice Elmore cover again. The protagonist kind of looks like a lady version of Tanis Half-Elven, which is kind of weird. I should take a moment to reiterate that there are interior illustrations by Jim Holloway, they are less than inspired (even though they have monsters in them!) and not worth cracking the bindings to reproduce them.