Rescue
missions and romance, seriously evil wizards and stealing arcane
secrets, a dark legacy to undo and hopefully defeat a Black Mage along
the way. I have a feeling that putting this book down will be, in its
way, no less a challenge than anything Morgan and Miach have to face.
Point of order, I also do not think that schools of wizardry should have
Masters of dark magic as part of the faculty.
I have finished The Mage's Daughter, Book 2 of Lynn Kurland's Novels of the Nine Kingdoms.
Nothing is as it seems in the Nine Kingdoms, and no one, apparently. But the heart endures even in the face of rampaging trolls, grumpy royal grandfathers, and seriously evil magic. They say that ignorance can be overcome but that prejudice will destroy you, and thank goodness Mhorghain overcame it. But overcoming what killed her mother will be a different matter altogether, even with archmage Miach by her side.
They
say that ignorance can be overcome but that prejudice will destroy you,
and it is my dear hope that Morgan does not become an object lesson of
that statement regarding her determined loathing of mages. Something of
an ironic loathing given both her past and likely future, so here is
hoping Miach can earn both the mark of the sword and her affection
before the true war begins.
Would that I had a Genie bottle or, better yet, a Genie handy; the first would hopefully let me dream what I am supposed to write here and the latter grant me a wish for the perfect thing to be written. Lacking either, I suppose I am going to have to help myself - which are Genies' goals for humans anyway, so I guess it is fitting that I have neither. If that sound rather convoluted then perhaps I have begun writing the perfect post after all, for this book was more than "just another day in the Kingdoms and Empires". It showed that Moriarty is truly the literary heir of the great Diana Wynne Jones, for NO other author possesses such sheer genius in weaving story threads across time itself! Meaning it was first confusing then intriguing then a heartstopping thrill-ride watching Lillian Velvet use her wits and the contents of a pickle jar to meet and help the Mettlestones. Linear causality is overrated anyway.
I would say goodbye, only I am dead certain this is not the last we have seen of the Mettlestone family (or, hopefully, Lillian as well), past or present. So until next time, whatever time within the Kingdoms and Empires that may be!
(By the way, Jaclyn Moriarty obviously had WAY TOO MUCH FUN writing this book.)
I have finished Star of the Morning, Book 1 of Lynn Kurland's Novels of the Nine Kingdoms.
Darkness grows even as the hope, the star of the morning, rises as a mage's daughter confronts, well, magic, in addition to truths dead set against personal convictions. While I typically do not go for Romantic Fantasy, this one has certainly been a ride - and free of many of the typical clichés, better yet, and not just on the romance quarter. I have certainly never seen THAT happen to a magic sword, and swords, mage-born and otherwise, are necessary to keep Neroche and indeed all the Nine Kingdoms from falling to Lothar the black mage. Provided Morgan learns to accept a few things, of course, including that swords are not the only honorable way to fight.
Tis only a teaser and obviously we all are reserving judgement until it comes out but, that said, I cannot think of a better sign that Netflix is determined to make its live-action adaption of Avatar: The Last Airbender worthy, truly worthy, of the masterpiece that was the original.
One of the best things about being a school librarian is that one is surrounded by books, and book covers by extension. An extension that made me realize that, much I like the original cover for my book, The Last War: Book One of the Cynnahu Saga, it lacked a certain dynamism compared to other books and, to put it bluntly, looked self-published. So I went back to GetCovers (then added a few personal touches) and the result was nothing short of splendid! Behold the red ship and its crimson-eyed captain!
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