ISBN: 0312864922 Order from: Amazon.com
A slightly better continuation of the series, where the hero consolidates her rule, fights off more invaders and improves the infrastructure.
Reviewed by David on June 13, 1998
Genre: Fantasy (Sword and Sorcery, Multiple Worlds)
Synopsis: The modern-day singer who was magically transported into a world where music is (literally) power, continues to unify, rebuild and strengthen the country of Defalk using her magic, determination and education. The struggles with invaders, rebels and the forces of ignorance and male chauvinism take up most of the book.
Full Review: This is the second novel in the Spellsong Cycle. In the first book, The Soprano Sorceress, Anna Marshall, a vocal teacher, was transported magically into a world where singing is a method for invoking magic. After getting involved in a war against invaders, Anna ended up as a ruler of Defalk, a small feudal country surrounded by more powerful neighbors.
Anna is busy rebuilding and strengthening Defalk, including instituting coed schools, taxation, civil projects; putting down rebellions and building alliances. In the meantime, she has to fight off another invasion, find new limitations on her magic powers and train the heir to the throne.
This novel, as its predecessor, is full of battles, uncomfortable travel, too much information about food and weather and not enough character development. Fortunately, the pace is reasonably quick, and the villains are somewhat more interesting and provide proper scope for Anna's magical, political and military skills.
A fairly entertaining, but hardly original, fantasy adventure. There is a clear set-up for a sequel, hopefully the concluding volume.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 5; Style: 4; World-building: 4.5; Originality: 4;
Tor, January 1998, Cloth
ISBN: 0312864922 Order from: Amazon.com