WOMS: The Mage’s Daughter

I’m angry (livid really), but instead of kvetching about my day job I loathe and how today’s experiences confirmed some of my worst fears about my precarious position, or worse, raging about COVID since I’m still recovering from a recent bout—I’m going to gush about a book whose heroine refuses to stop being herself, no matter what changes or challenges she faces, because I need to be reminded that though I might not be able to solve my problems with a sword (and oh, how that would be SO much easier), I don’t have to compromise who I am even if it makes others uncomfortable.

That heroine is none other than Morgan in Lynn Kurland’s The Mage’s Daughter.

You might recall my review of the first book in this Nine Kingdoms series, The Star of the Morning, and you would be right to also think my review of book two [Mage’s Daughter] is severely overdue.

Morgan is the fierce, sword-wielding, mercenary-discovered-to-be-a-half-elven-princess-turned-queen I always wanted. She wears gorgeous, elvish gowns, accenting her own radiant beauty only to later dress down in leathers and kick some troll butt.

At her side is Miach (I always read that as Micah), a reluctant, nearly all-powerful mage who against all odds defies his king, Morgan’s former master, and woos the shieldmaiden despite her best attempts to hide away from him and everyone else at the edge of the world. Swoon!

This installment was probably my favourite of the series. I find I usually prefer the second book. Don’t know why, especially since I enjoy exposition and world-building more than most readers. Though, that might very well be why: second books either enrich and deepen a world, or they bog it down with too many flat side characters and subplots which detract from the overall story. Maybe I should modify what I said to I usually prefer good second books in a trilogy.

The Mage’s Daughter was exceptionally good. Not only did it deliver with enriching the world of the Nine Kingdoms, but it made me fall in love with the characters even more when they were already beloved after book one. The new characters introduced in this installment were equally delightful, from Morgan’s cantankerous elven grandfather to her bickering uncles and Miach’s roguish brothers.

I especially appreciated how the focus, whether intentional or not, was revealing Morgan’s past, how she evolves into the woman we meet when The Star of the Morning begins, and takes us further along her transformation from shieldmaiden to noblewoman who can still kick some royal, snobbish butt. Miach gets attention, too, but his own story defers to Morgan’s, allowing her to shine.

Another reason I probably preferred this second book is the romance between our two main characters flourishes from the brief sparks ignited in book one into a gentle warmth which seeps from the pages. I adored how Miach and Morgan learn to care and support one another despite their very different backgrounds, or Miach’s rather questionable actions in book one. (I almost want to say a B”H that Kurland didn’t drag out any unnecessary drama like a teen book. Sorry YA fans.) There was one moment towards the end I almost threw the book, though, because I thought Lynn Kurland was pulling some stupid Sarah J. Maas crap, but thankfully I didn’t have to worry for long, but you’ll have to read the book yourself to find out what that could have possibly been!

As with The Star of the Morning, The Mage’s Daughter was rambunctious in hilarity, a cozy almost snuggly romance, and an equally thrilling adventure which I couldn’t put down, not until I could read the next book, Princess of the Sword.

Stay tuned for that review next!

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