The Shadow Sorceress (Spellsong Cycle Series #4) »

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the author of the popular fantasies of the Recluce, Spellsinger and Corean series as well as numerous science fiction novels. He lives with his wife, a lyric soprano, in Cedar City, Utah.

The Shadow Sorceress continues the story begun in the first Spellsong Trilogy, but shifts the focus to the challenges facing Secca, now a young Sorceress, who is thrust into a position of power when her mentor, Anna, dies unexpectedly before Secca's training is complete. Anna, a singer from Earth, brought new levels of magical power to the world through her knowledge of music and singing, and has been the power behind the throne for years. Despite her reservations concerning the skills and strength of her young ruler, the boy-king Anna protected for years, Secca immediately takes command of all hermagical resources to help suppress internal dissension in a neighboring province. Then shemust rally potential allies to lift the naval siege laid on Nordwei by the Sea Priests who bring with them a new kind of drumming magic, rhythmic sorcery that threatens the balance of power in the world and portends danger and destruction not imagined for decades.

VOYA

This fourth book in Modesitt's Spellsong Cycle offers a new protagonist, Secca, a young woman thrust into the center of conflict when her mentor, Anna, the spellsinger of the earlier volumes, dies unexpectedly. The deaths of Anna, former Regent of Defalk, and of the old Liedfuhr of Mansuur, leave a power vacuum that many rush to fill. The Sea-Priests, who chain their womenfolk; the Holders of Neserea, who long for the return of women to chattel status; and even the weak Robero, formerly Jim-bob and now Lord of Defalk, all seek Anna's power for their own ends. Only Secca, the other sorceresses trained by Anna, and the people of Ranuak and Wei, the two kingdoms separated by a continent, will fight to preserve the ideals for which Anna strove—gender equality, responsibility, prosperity, justice, and peace. Beset on all sides and forced into a leadership role for which she feels unprepared, Secca must turn her constructive sorceress skills to destruction, flaming opponents and collapsing fortresses with spells previously used to build bridges and roads. Luckily, in a world that denies the abilities of women, Secca encounters Alcaren, a warrior of Ranuak where women work alongside men to trade and rule. If Secca can bring herself to trust him, she might find the love and companionship she needs to grow both personally and as a warleader. This novel of forced maturity is a must purchase for high school and public libraries where fantasy is read. Teens will devour Modesitt's usual multilayered story with its action-adventure superimposed upon Secca's hero's journey that provides true love in the end. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broadgeneral YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Tor, 544p, $27.95. Ages 15 to Adult. Reviewer: Marsha Valance