First I’m going to share a little story. I don’t remember
when it was for sure but a few years back I stumbled upon a paperback copy of “The
Fairy Godmother” by Mercedes Lackey. Even though I’ve been an avid reader of
fantasy fiction since even before reading “Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets” in the late 1990’s I hadn’t read of Mercedes Lackey. But I read “The
Fairy Godmother”, absolutely loved it, and made that I got my hands on the rest
of the Tales of the 500 Kingdom books that have published so far.
This is what that series has taught me to expect of Mercedes
Lackey: action, adventure, and kick ass heroines. Three great qualities in
books of any genre. So when I was browsing NetGalley and saw the first book of
a new series, one that promised to feature even more powerful female characters
(what with a series title of One Dozen Daughters) I was intrigued. Then I
started the book and I was captivated.
“The House of the Four Winds” starts out in Swansgaard, a
small kingdom with too many daughters to afford their dowries. This means that
once the girls turn eighteen they are free to venture out on their owns and
make their own fortunes. The first book starts with Clarice, an accomplished
swordswoman, deciding to take a ship to the New World. There she meets a motley
crew of seamen, including the dashing Dominick. But the thing is, Clarice is
masquerading as Clarence Swann, a wealthy gentleman.
The plot runs quickly with a normal sea journey turning into
a story of mutiny, pirates, treasure, and then romance enters the scene. The characters
were lively and well written and the intrigue was great. There was even some
humor thrown in!
So, even though I have a feeling that the next novels in the
series won’t be following Clarice (I am hoping there will be mentions of
marriages, children, etc.) since there are eleven other daughters to follow the
lives of, I will still be looking forward to getting my hands on the books.
Recommended for anyone who has read and enjoyed Mercedes
Lackey books, likes fantasy and strong female characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment