Minstrel's Daughter [Paperback]

Seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes takes on a whole new eye-popping meaning in Alberta author Linda Smith’s delightfully exciting first novel in the Songs of Freya series, a follow-up to her earlier Freyan Trilogy. Young readers -even older ones for that matter-who enjoyed the adventures of Wind Shifter, Sea Change and The Turning Time will get a kick out of this new story that takes place forty years after the first trilogy.
As a former children’s librarian with a BLS from the University of Alberta and a credit in Writing for Children from Boston’s Simmons College, Smith tells her story with imagination and generous portions of humour, tension and drama. Her story’s 12-year-old heroine, Catrina Ashdale, or “Cat” to her friends and family, can’t believe her wandering minstrel of a father abandoned her as a baby because her mother wouldn’t marry him and face life on the road. Consequently, despite her love for her mom, Lianna, and grudging respect for her about-to-be stepfather, Kenton, she is determined to find the man who fathered her. First she needs to consult Master Weaver, a well-meaning old wizard, to get hold of a Finding Spell in order to narrow the search. Learning that she must search in the city of Freyall, she gathers her possessions, stows away on a boat and arrives in Freyall only to have her money stolen. She is left only with her prized tin flute, a reminder of her father, and her clothes most of which she is soon forced to sell as she lives homeless on the street.
To survive she becomes a busker and that’s how she meets Garth, whose dedication to music upsets his grandfather Konrad Spellman’s plans to have him follow in his footsteps as a wizard. When Cat and Garth meet the sparks start flying and the fun begins. Because grandfather Konrad is away, Garth substitutes for him in creating a Finding Spell to help Cat locate her elusive minstrel father. Since he isn’t well versed in the intricacies of spell-making, Garth mumbles the wrong mumbo-jumbo and morphs the two-legged, fair-skinned Cat into a four-legged, fur bearing cat-a spell he doesn’t know how to reverse. It’s a tribute to author Smith’s story telling spells that she’s able to present the rest of the story so realistically through a cat’s eyes without losing the requisite heart and humour.
A spell that goes awry isn’t the only dilemma Cat and Garth face as they adjust to their new boy-cat relationship and new ways of communicating. She still has to find her dad and along the way they need to solve a mystery concerning the plot to overthrow-perhaps even kill-the Queen of Freya during a convention of wizards and a concert of musicians from the region. Coincidentally, they have to sort out the roles of Cat’s father and Garth’s grandfather in the plot-all intriguingly tense and exciting bits of business, especially with Cat loping ahead and Garth reluctantly dragging behind.
There’s plenty of action in the story: the mix of wizards and musicians; the mix of extended families; the political plots; the spells, good, bad and ugly; the cat’s eye view of Cat’s world; Garth’s family’s suspicions about a cat’s influence on his decision to become a musician instead of a wizard; and a final resolution for returning a cat to a Cat and laying the groundwork for the next book in the series, Cory’s Song.
Smith has produced a spellbinding, lots-of-fun book with credible characters, human and animal. It’s great entertainment and a great lead off for her new series. One might even say, “It’s the cat’s meow!”
M. Wayne Cunningham (Books in Canada)

This first book in a trilogy proves to be an exciting adventure through the lands of Frey-Cat and Garth are heroes who are as accessible as they are entertaining. They are good role models of two strong, intelligent teens who can thrive in the face of adversity. This fantasy novel by Canadian author Linda Smith is a well-written magical romp that will have the reader anxiously turning the pages to see what happens next. (KLIATT)