The first book in Monica Hughes's Isis trilogy, The Keeper of the Isis Light, is a masterpiece and arguably her best work. It is both a love story and a poignant comment on prejudice. Hughes explores, in this light adventure romance, the nature of what it means to be human.

This book is a real page-turner as the author gradually reveals its two surprises: Olwen's physical appearance and the fact, unrealized by Olwen till the last pages, but probably guessed by the reader, that Guardian is a robot.

There are other small surprises, such as the revelation that Olwen's pet, Hobbit, is not only a large, hairy animal but actually quite fearsome in appearance. The beast that Guardian has given the taxonomic name Draco hirsutus is not the large dog-like animal the reader may have assumed from Hobbit's friendly behavior in chapter 1.

Hobbit is...