The best of science fiction/fantasy doesn't just tell old worn familiar stories with new props (dragons instead of horses); it helps us live another vision, another time in history, another point of view. It challenges our thinking, makes us walk in the other persons shoes, and kicks our butts out of the daily rut. It tells us stories that we have to keep thinking about for awhile after the book is finished. Gael Baudino's "Shroud of Shadow" is such a work. The story takes us back to the days of the Inquisition and the death of magic. It leads us through our own history as the last Elf ...passing among humans as a woman harpist...struggles with a world bereft of beauty, and one almost lost to hope. The writing is beautiful, the experience both chilling and disturbing. Let yourself read this book. Let yourself talk a walk through the past that will raise questions about our present...and future.