*Don't bother ** Borrow it ***Paperback ****Hardback ***** Exceptional

Not often is a fantasy novel mainstream enough to appeal to a wide readership as Guy Gavriel Kay's Ysabel.

Kay is a master of the genre of historical fantasy, but Ysabel is an interesting departure from his normal work. It simultaneously reminded me of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Ysabel is Kay's 10th novel; other works by the noteworthy author include The Lions of Al-Rassan and The Last Light of the Sun, both of which are being adapted into film productions. Famously, Kay collaborated with Tolkien's son Christopher on the deceased author's unfinished manuscript of The Silmarillion. Before becoming a fiction author, Kay worked as a travel writer.

Ysabel opens as 15-year-old Ned Marriner is exploring the depths of the Provence region of France's Saint Sauveur Cathedral alone. The son of the famous photographer Edward Marriner, Ned is being dragged around France as his father takes pictures for a new book. His mother, meanwhile, is working in Sudan as a physician with Doctors Without Borders.

While wandering through the cathedral, Ned encounters Kate Wenger from the United States. Kate knowledge of France's history could put a textbook to shame, and she becomes an immediate companion to Ned.Together, the two teens peek into the cathedral's baptistry, where they encounter a stranger who looks as though he should never be allowed in a holy place. The stranger is wearing leather and holding a knife.

"You haveblundered into a corner of a very old story," the stranger tells them.

From here, Ned and Kate are sucked into a mystery centuries in the making. As in many other books, a holy place becomes a world of both past and present, where the boundaries of time and place are thinner than usual.

To go any deeper into the plot of Ysabel would be completely inadequate, as this is one of those books you need to read for yourself.

The one flaw in Ysabel is some minor instances of plodding writing; thankfully, the plot is exciting enough to make this a small problem.

You'll find that, if you do pick it up, Ysabel is well worth your while as a completely engrossing page-turner.<