The Mirador
Sarah Monette
Ace, Aug 2007, $24.95
ISBN 9780441015009
At the court of Melusine, master wizard Felix Harrowgate knows he has plenty of peers wanting him dead, but does not care one iota that so many want his demise as he knows how far he has come back from the insane abuse of his former master to reclaim his seat in the ruling Mirador. His half brother Mildmay the Fox, a former thief and assassin, has perhaps even more enemies with only his mystical and blood links to his sibling mage keeping him alive; ergo where Felix goes, Mildmay follows.
The Cabaline wizards are part of The Mirador, but as they meet, the Bastion wizards, just as adept with magic, have plans to destroy their rivals and if Melusine is devastated too so be it. Within the Mirador, the impossible has occurred. The enemy has a mole, Mehitabel Parr, who collects and reports information to her Bastion masters. She learns from Mildmay who courts her that Felix is the source to defeat the Cabaline from within. If she reports this to her masters, she will betray friends; if she fails to report to her masters, she betrays loved ones.
The third Melusine fantasy (see MELUSINE and THE VIRTU) is an exciting character driven fantasy that has the audience wondering who Mehitabel will choose to save as she accepts that she is expendable and cannot save herself. The complex cast, especially the slightly crazy Felix, the eccentric oddly moral Mildmay and the beleaguered Mehitabel make the tale fun as fans of the series will believe Mehitabel is caught between a rock and a hard place. Although nothing earth-shatteringly new in the Monette universe occurs, fans will enjoy reading the further adventures of the half-siblings as this escapade is more personal than epic even if a way of life is at stake.
Harriet Klausner
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