Book Review: The Lady of the Sorrows

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Lady of the Sorrows     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Class/Genre:   SF AND Fantasy
Series: Bitterbynde # 2
Warner, Apr 2002, $24.95, 448 pp.

Her flawed visage has returned to its normal beauty and she is no longer mute, but Imrhien has not fully healed from the sorcery attack that has left her with no memory. Though still suffering from magically induced amnesia, she realizes she needs to inform the king of a treasure she found. Reluctantly, Imrhien masquerades as Lady Rohain. She also hopes to locate Thorn, the ranger she loves.

His highness turns out to be Thorn, who is at war with rebels and unseelie hordes. To keep Imrhien safe, he sends her to the mystical isle Tamhania-Tavaal. However, the unseelie leader Huon pursues her and his followers trick Imrhien into letting down the isle's magical defenses. This leads to the unseelie changing the island into an erupting volcano. Imrhien struggles with surviving the deadly volcano and the subsequent tsunami it causes. Even if she lives, her life remains unsafe, as the enemy wants her dead before she recovers her memory.

THE LADY OF THE SORROWS, The Bitterbynde Book 2, is an exciting epic fantasy tale that reads like a series of fairy tale vignettes. The story line moves quickly forward and though Imrhien remains an engaging heroic character, she has lost some of her edge and empathy from the first tale (THE ILL-MADE MUTE). Cecilia Dart-Thornton provides an interesting middle tale, but though the plot demonstrates her talent, the tale falls a bit short of the creativity level of Imrhien’s debut novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner