The Lord-Protector's Daughter

The book arrived on time. Almost finished reading it. Great series.

Modesitt is an unbelievably prolific author, unfortunately this also means he tends to rely on what he knows he does well. This has plagued his Saga of Recluce. Modesitt plays to his strengths. He is skilled in describing the growth of a character from naivte to strength and power, politics and intrigue,military manuevering and the mechanics and philosphy of "magic." The Lord Protector's Daughter is no exception. However, besides the Spell Song Cycle, this is one of his few female protagonists. This lends Modesitt's writing a fresh turn. His books have always dealts with issues of sex and power, themes which ulitmately become the primary antagonist of this novel. The plot centers around a conspiracy, which Mykella gradually unveils as the story unfolds. She also discovers she posesses Talent, and spends much of the book learning how to master it and discover ways to use it to both prevent incursions by the Ifrits and bring a stop to the conspiracy. At times this book was frustrating. Though enjoyable, especially in its further clarifications on the nature of Talent, Mykella is unable to do anything until the final moments of the novel. Modesitt really relies heavily on the nature and influence of women in society of Corus and their helplessness. While a good read, it often felt as if the story was about nothing, lots of problems, but never any solutions...until the very end. Not the best, but not the worst either; and if you enjoyed the Corean Chronicles and Modesitt's style you should enjoy this as well.

The Lord-Protector's Daughter (2008) is the seventh fantasy novel in the Corean Chronicles series, following Soarer's Choice. In the previous volume, the Ifrits were driven off Corus by the Ancients and their transit tubes were blocked. A very few Alectors remained on the planet by linking their life forces to Corus. Mykel became the Protector of Tempre and married Rachyla. In this novel, a few centuries later, Feranyt is the Lord-Protector of Lanachrona, dwelling in the palace at Tempre. He is directly descended from the First Protector. Feranyt is fair and honest, but is also too likely to trust close friends and relatives. Joramyl is Feranyt's brother and the Finance Minister of Lanachrona. He is married to Cheleyza -- his second wife -- and is the father of Berenyt. Mykella is Feranyt's eldest child. Since she is a woman, Mykella is not the Lord-Protector's heir. However, she also is honest and fair, not to mention fully capable of reading and reconciling account books. Rachylana is Feranyt's second daughter. She is vain and foolish most of the time, but truly loves her father and siblings. Unfortunately, Rachylana is infatuated with her cousin Berenyt and confides all things to him. Salyna is the third daughter. She is fascinated with weapons and hunting. Her father lets her practice with the guards since her weapons skills might save her life some day. Her father and brother also let Salyna hunt with them on occasion, but won't let her hunt with the guests. It is not ladylike. Jeraxlt is the only son and heir. He is an officer in the Southern Guards, but will never be allowed to command in combat. Jeraxlt is thoroughly enjoying his pursuit of the opposite sex. In this story, Mykella visits the Portmaster for her regular check of the tariff records. She has been checking the finances of the realm for some time and has recently discovered discrepancies. From her investigations, Mykella decides that the missing gold is dropping out of the records between the Portmaster's accounts and the Finance Ministry's books. Mykella is beginning to suspect that her Uncle Joramyl is changing the books. Yet she cannot understand what he is doing or why he is doing it. She confides her discoveries -- without mentioning Joramyl -- to her father and Joramyl's chief clerk commits suicide that very day. Of course, Mykella has suspicions about the cause of death. Mykella and her sisters are reminded of their marital prospects soon after the suicide incident. Feranyt mentions envoys coming to meet the sisters. Mykella figures that Joramyl is trying to get her away from Tempre. Mykella is walking with Rachylana one day when she notices a green glow near a corner of the wall. Rachylana sees nothing unusual in the area, so Mykella wonders if she is having hallucinations. However, she is later visited by a Soarer, who gives her vague instructions. Mykella is the chatelaine of the palace and has keys to everything. She visits the a

This is a tough book to place in LE Modesitt's universe, but the Lord-Protector's Daughter is an interesting if not as action packed as his previous books. There is the standard intrigue, the standard story lines of interfamilial issues, and of course being married off for politics rather than love or even liking the person. It is never easy being the daughter of a person in power. What is interesting and this is what really makes the book is the interplay of ambition, ability, and the full knowledge that no matter what Mykella (The daughter) does, she will never realize those ambitions, and may not ever be able to truly work and explore her abilities. Short on action and violence, long on the despair of Mykella, and how she must work and find it within herself to rise above the situation to realize who she is, and what she wants to be, or the situation starts to cast itself towards a destiny that looks more hopeful than bleak. She gets a warning, and must work on her psionic power to save herself and her family from the general treachery that is a standard plot element of Modesitt's work. While the treachery is predictable (we all knew this was coming), the use of talent, and Mykella's steadfast duty to her friends and family sets this book up in the general orbit of a good Modesitt book. With this being a general reoccurring theme in Modesitt's work, the struggle to find out what you are, who you are, and overcoming at times fantastic odds, this plays on the previous works and fits in nicely with the Corean series that this derives from. Overall, this is a well-written book and highly enjoyable yarn. You start caring for Mykella throughout the book, and want her to succeed when everything it at its bleakest. The ending is a bit short, not the usual ramp up, but just as exciting and action packed as only Modesitt can write. Excellent book, very enjoyable to read, started caring about the lead character in the book, five of five stars.

Since the vile Ifrits were defeated by Mykel and Rachyla, they and their descendents have ruled as the Lord Protector over Lanachrona and its neighbors. However, when leadership is past by hereditary, the Talent does not necessarily follow until one would be hard pressed to compare the current Lord Protector to Mykel. Her father the Lord Protector plans for his daughter Mykella to marry a foreign royal in a political marriage. However, she wants much more than to be a pawn so she spends her time evaluating the accounts at the Finance Ministry where she notices a significant drop in tariff collections. She interviews traders, who insist they have paid more not less. She continues her investigation into the stolen gold, but soon some of the clerks she interrogated are murdered. Though fearing for her life and that of her loved ones, Mykella keeps digging trying to find proof for her father to take action. This Corean investigative fantasy thriller is a terrific sidebar tale that fans of the saga will enjoy and newcomers will find as an intriguing entry. The story line is shorter than the usual L.E. Modesitt, Jr. tome, but is incredibly fast-paced and action-packed. The amateur sleuth inquiries by the courageous heroine make for an enjoyable refreshing novel. Harriet Klausner