The Lost Prince [Paperback]

King Alonzo of Spain longs to tear every strain of heresy and devil-worship from his nation. He burns so many, yet the Inquisition always finds more. When his wife is cursed and dies in labor, giving birth to a cursed child, he seeks to gain legitimacy for his bastard son instead. Unfortunately for Don Rolon, legitimate son of Alonzo and heir to the throne, his father's contempt is only one of the challenges he faces. His half-brother will do anything to destroy him, his mistress is a greedy fool, and his new wife doesn't understand the danger she is in in priest-ridden Spain. Worst of all, though, is the curse--the curse that transforms Don Rolon into a wolf during the full moon.

Although his servants and allies do what they can to hide his curse, the Inquisition is curious. If they could destroy the heir to the throne, that would prove their power, put them in position to rule the nation. And without his father's support, Don Rolon is in a highly vulnerable position. One by one, the Inquisition cuts down his allies, leaving him alone--with his curse.

Author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro creates a compelling picture of Spain under the Inquisition. Although the actual characters are fictitious (and no werewolf heir is reported in standard histories), she's clearly done her research and the power of the Inquisition over both ordinary people and even over the nobles of Spain and Portugal rings true. Yarbro's observations about the utility of torture in creating confessions carries a warning that is as valid today as it was in the days of the Inquisition.

In her efforts to create a dark and dangerous world, Yarbro failed to do much to make us care about the characters. Don Rolon is not especially likable and, while we are intrigued by the political and religious maneuvering around him, it's hard to really care what happens to him. Even his allies care more about him because he's the legitimate heir than because of who he is as a person. His unconcern for what he's done in wolf mode--he apparently kills one of his companions in the opening scenes of the book and never really feels remorse--makes it that much harder to care whether the Inquisition gets him or not.

Yarbro's writing kept me involved enough in the story to want to learn what happens next, And the ending did come as a surprise, at least to me. Unfortunately, the editing sometimes made LOST PRINCE difficult to read. The novel appears to have been passed through a character recognition system and typos, extra periods, hyphens in the middle of words not at a line-break, and missing paragraph breaks are so common they detract from the quality of Yarbro's writing.

This is a reissued, and retitled, edition of Yarbro's 1983 novel, *The Godforsaken.* The story is set in Spain during the mid-1500s, when the Spanish Inquisition was at the height of its power--a most uncongenial environment to be a werewolf. As werewolf stories go, *Lost Prince* might be classified "retro." The current literary vogue treats lycanthropy as empowering, not as a liability. The werewolf has evolved to challenge the vampire for the romantic role of the sexy, edgy, dangerous lover. But twenty-five years ago when *Lost Prince* was written, werewolves were not usually depicted as a different, even superior, species with their own subculture, hierarchy and history. Don Rolon is the victim of a curse, one which he did nothing to deserve. As his awareness of his condition slowly grows, he shrivels with horror and shame at his own deeds and his beast-like transformed self. Like the classic "wolf man," Larry Talbot, Don Rolon can see no possible way to reconcile his curse with his normal life. If he can't escape the curse, death is his only alternative.

As in her Saint-Germain vampire series, Yarbro's treatment of her protagonist's supernatural condition is understated. Don Rolon's physical appearance as a werewolf, and his transformation, are never clearly described. We only get hints through the emotions and reactions of those around him, and eventually Don Rolon himself. The mayhem that the werewolf commits is mentioned, but in far less detail than the torture inflicted by the Inquisition on its victims. Although the werewolf slaughters women, children, and Don Rolon's friends and kin, Yarbro implies that its actions are mild compared to the horrors inflicted by self-justified human beings.

*Lost Prince* draws a richly detailed portrait of a time and place you would never want to live in. It offers a different concept of werewolves than the current trend, and presents several complex and engaging characters, especially the dwarf court jester, Lugantes. Fans of Yarbro's Saint-Germain series will find many similarities and parallels to those books, and might enjoy reading *Lost Prince* in conjunction with *Darker Jewels,* set in the same time period but a very different society, 16th century Russia.

Unfortunately, this reissue edition of the novel is seriously marred by typesetting errors. I have never seen a book with this many serious typos. There is not a single page without multiple errors, including one instance where a block of several paragraphs is printed twice. Wrong letters, wrong punctuation, missing letters, missing punctuation, omitted spaces between words, missing strings of words, hyphenated words in the middle of lines, missing section breaks, misplaced section breaks--the book is filled with them. I have trouble understanding how a publisher could send a book to press in this condition--didn't anyone proofread it?! If it wasn't for the typos, I would give *Lost Prince* five stars. I hope Borderlands Press corrects the plates before it does any more print runs!

(Condensed from my 4/27/08 review on [...].)
Darker Jewels: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain (St. Germain)

Be advised before purchase, this is NOT a new book. It was published in 1983 as "The Godforsaken" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. I'm feeling a little ripped off as I paid $12 believing it to be a new novel, a continuance of "The Godforsaken". That being said, it's a good yarn. Yarbro portrays a werewolf with a conscience well, and as usual, her historical research is remarkable. I already had "The Godforsaken" in my library, so I doubt I'll keep this book, except maybe as a curiosity on the shelf with my Harry Potter errata copy.