...a ghost of the young man he’d once been, before the deliberately constructed rumors and perilous persona: the boy who’d defended his kindhearted impractical younger brother through the years... [loc. 271]
A short story rather than a novella: this was a very quick read, which I'd have liked to be longer. Read within an hour of finishing Magician, which I enjoyed enough to search out, purchase and read this prequel.
Lily is raising a child by herself, living in poverty and constantly exhausted. She learnt magic from the infamous Lorre, the world's greatest magician, but he's vanished and left Lily and his daughter to survive as best they can. Lily does not welcome the arrival of the king's disreputable bastard brother, Will, who hauls her (and baby Merry) off to the palace. The king is afflicted by some frightful magical illness, and Will -- despite his bloodthirsty reputation and well-known ambition -- doesn't want his brother to die.
I liked the tension between Will and Lily: Lily herself is a great character, independent and gifted and very human, and her frustration was wholly relateable. If Noone ever decides to tell more of her story, I'm keen to read it.
No comments:
Post a Comment