DAW
(Paperback), ISBN 0-7564-0061-9
An interesting
but somehow disappointing read, The Serpent's Shadow's examination
of cultural differences and racism almost makes up for its rather limp
and unfrightening antagonist. As a Lackey fan, a lover of both fantasy
and fantasy romance, I felt a little cheated by the arch villainess who
didn't come close to measuring up to the protagonist. I like reading books
where there is a definite chance the villain might win -- but I finished
the book with the lingering suspicion that the book couldn't quite make
up its mind what it wanted to be.
Born
of an English father and high caste Brahmin woman, Maya Witherspoon, belonged
to neither world. Magic lived in her blood, but it remained untaught.
A doctor of medicine and licensed to work in several London hospitals,
she knows she must be taught to use her power if she wants to find the
murderer of her father (who died of snakebite) and possibly her mother
(who, while dying, warned her to beware of "the serpent's shadow"). Maya
ran from India to Edwardian London to escape, but she knows not even that
vast distance can protect her from the danger -- even if she doesn't know
who threatens her or why.
The second book in Lackey's Elemental Masters series, The Serpent's Shadow introduces the British masters of fire, earth, water and air. Maya's discovery by one of the masters might be her salvation, but only if he can convince the others that women -- and women of mixed parentage -- can hold power in their own right, that power isn't just the property of men.
The Serpent's Shadow delivers a good read, but maybe I just love Valdemar too much to appreciate novels set in a world too close to our own history.
Patricia Lucas White
Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.
Click here to read Teri Smith's review of The Serpent's Shadow.
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