A Sorcerer's Treason
Book One of the Isavalta Trilogy
Sarah Zettel
Voyager, a division of HarperCollins
Paperback, R99.95
Reviewed by Gail Jamieson, 18 May 2004
This novel could be the typical beginning of a fantasy trilogy. The usual
story of a "sorceress" born in a world not her own who must return to
the world of her mother to right a wrong.
But, and it is a big but, the story seems to have much more depth and more
dimension than most fantasy novels. We see the tale from the point of view of
many of the characters, and they all have more than one side to them. In fact
they seem to be real people. Except for one character, and even he truly
believes that he is doing his best for his own country, no one is only good or
truly evil.
Bridget lives in a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Superior. Having borne
an illegitimate daughter who swiftly died, she is shunned by her community and
only permitted to remain because of the job she has inherited from her late
father. She tends the flame of the lighthouse and rescues sailors whose craft
still are thrown up on the rocks on which it stands.
One of the people whose boat she manages to prevent from sinking claims to
be a sorcerer, named Kalami from another dimension. He tells her a strange
story of how her mother was a sorceress from the land of Isavalta. He needs
her to return with him to save his sovereign, the Dowager Empress Medeoan.
Medeoan believes that Bridget, being her mother's daughter, is the only one
who can help.
Bridget agrees to go but even the journey through the Land of Death and
Spirit turns out to be hazardous and she soon finds that nothing is exactly as
Kalami has claimed. There are magic foxes, whose queen is The Vixen who
appears to come from yet another dimension. She is extremely powerful and is
feared by everyone. For a reason not clearly explained she gives Bridget a
gift which allows her to see things as they truly are.
It turns out that the Dowager is actually insane and that her son, Mikkel,
the Emperor, is under a spell that renders him moronic. The Empress, Ananda,
is suspected of having cast the spell in order to enable her to allow her
country to gain control of Isavalta. There is an air of suspicion and fear
that makes life very uncomfortable.
Then, there is the Firebird, a phoenix that Medeoan has enchanted and
trapped in a magic cage and whose imprisonment causes her great physical pain.
If he is freed, he will burn the whole of Isavalta.
Bridget is confused at first but The Vixen's gift allows her to see through
the sorcery that attempts to delude her. She finds out some very painful things
and slowly comes to the realisation that she has to make her own decisions for
her own reasons and not because someone else has a compelling need for her to
make choices. She grows as a character as the book proceeds.
Although, by the end of the novel, I could see that the trilogy can and
will continue, enough of the story is complete that I felt satisfied by what I
had read and that I would like to continue your acquaintance with the
characters.
I found it very enjoyable to read a fantasy novel where characters are not
painted in tones of black and white but rather in various different shades of
colour that let you see into their thoughts and desires.
Definitely recommended.
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