"A Brilliant Fantasy sequel - More to come!"
THE MAGE'S DAUGHTER picks up where STAR OF THE MORNING
leaves off. As Morgan recovers slowly from a near fatal
poisoning under the care of Nicholas of Lismòr on the Island
of Melksham, the archmage Miach is leagues away in Tor
Neroche where the attack on her, orchestrated by Lothar, the
black
mage of Wychweald, had occurred. Tor Neroche was currently being invaded by courtiers come to
witness the marriage of his brother, King Adhémar, and Miach
wished he was elsewhere. He was comforted by the fact that
Morgan still lived, though he had greatly feared at times
that she wouldn't. Only a few hours remained before the
ceremony, after which he would be free to go to his lady
love and hopefully convince her to forgive him for his
deception. His departure is more panicked than expected for during the
long dull stretch of the ceremony Miach had cast his mind to
the University of Lismòr seeking Morgan but had found no
sense of her. Morgan is alive but has fled to Gobhann in hopes that she
could outrun her dreams, her own magic, and the lies of the
man she had lost her heart to -- a man who was not a simple
farmer but what she hated most, a mage, the man who would
have used her for his own purposes and who hadn't even
bothered to inquire about her condition. Gobhann, the place
where she had learned her sword skill was a "magic sink" a
place that blocked magic. Her mentor Weger had shared her
hatred for magic and mages. It was a place Miach would never
go to find her. When Nicholas informs Miach, he quickly follows on her heels
and enters Gobhann, putting his obligation to Neroche and
the Seven Kingdoms on hold. For Miach this is a very large
decision considering that evil magic has been eating away at
his border wards for some time. But life without Morgan is
not worth living. In order to exit Gobhann alive with his
love he must earn Weger's mark of a master swordsman. No
easy task and he makes at least one enemy in the process. It wouldn't be romance if Morgan didn't agree to throw her
lot in with Miach's at some point but I won't go into
detail. Suffice it to say that nothing and no one she holds
dear is quite what she'd thought, including herself. Morgan's magic had lain dormant until the sword of Angesand
has sung to her, now back at Lismòr she learns that her
beloved guardian is in fact her uncle and that she herself
is Elfin Royalty and that she is also the daughter of a
notorious black mage. The pair has been attacked repeatedly by evil trolls without
warning which leads Miach to believe that they are somehow
tied to Morgan and the disintegration of his border wards.
And so they journey to the Elf King's kingdom so that Morgan
can meet her family and Miach can ask for her hand while
searching Sỉle's library for answers that will lead to the
black magic responsible for destroying his wards. Needless to say where there is dark magic, Lothar is not far
behind. The story ends with Miach's discovery of its source
and though he had planned to go face it alone neither
Morgan, her family, or his own is going to allow him to.
Will they be successful or will there be more battles ahead
for them? Stay tuned. Oh my, I really hated having this installment end. I
couldn't put the book down and hope that I won't have to
wait so long before the next installment is released. Note:
Lynn does recap the gist of the first segment in Chapter one
of THE MAGE'S DAUGHTER but this should only serve as a refresher
for those who read the first book, STAR OF THE MORNING two
years ago. For those new to the series, I highly recommend
reading the two books in order. The fantasy world, drawn so
beautifully, is too wonderful to miss any of it. I highly
recommend this book, the series and all of Ms. Kurland's
other works. Brilliant!
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted January 20, 2008
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