From Publishers Weekly
In the conclusion to her series devoted to Merlin's descendants (Guardian of the Vision, etc.), Radford's adroit mix of dark fantasy and Elizabethan politics, involving the complicated rivalries among the English, Scottish, French and Spanish, continues to entertain. Still in love with Mary Queen of Scots, Donovan Kirkwood must tread a delicate balance between his desire to free the imprisoned Mary and his loyalty to Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Donovan's niece Deidre and son Hal travel to Paris to try to rescue the city's Protestants from the depredations of El Lobison, the sadistic Master of Wolves. The cruel Spaniard captures Hal and turns him into a werewolf; but first, in a scene not for the squeamish, El Lobison torments Hal by killing his faithful dog, Helwriaeth. ("The Master of Wolves nearly chortled as he turned his wicked blade and hook to butchering Helwriaeth.") Years later, Donovan's daughter Betsy starts to embrace the darker side of magic in an effort to cement her claim to the title Pendragon. However, it is Deidre who in the final battle assumes the Pendragon mantle to challenge the enemy in England's time of greatest need. Fans of ingenious twists on the Merlin legends, if not animal lovers, should be well pleased
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From Booklist
The fourth book of Radford's Merlin's Descendants saga is also the second volume about Elizabethan nobleman Donovan Kirkwood and his relatives, one of whom will probably be the next Pendragon, or prime inheritor of Merlin's magic. Kirkwood has been restricted to England by decree of Queen Elizabeth. His daughter Deirdre can travel, though, and being convinced that the anti-Protestant St. Bartholomew's Eve massacre portends dire consequences for just about everything and everybody, she adjourns to France with her cousin Hal. The two encounter plenty of natural menaces generated by religious warfare, and more than a few supernatural ones, of which werewolves are only the most conspicuous. By now the saga has moved well beyond the Arthurian era in which it began and into a period where Radford's historical expertise and feminist inclinations show up to better advantage. It is pretty hard to write a bad historical fantasy set in the Elizabethan era if you have the skill to do it justice. Radford demonstrably does. Ponderous in bulk, high in quality, intelligent throughout.
Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
