Great Harry is dead, and England is ruled by a dour Protector for 10-year-old Edward VI–-a Protector intent on keeping total control over the young king and no friend to Lady Elizabeth because of her brother’s fondness for her. In the great lens and the dark pool that hold Visions for the FarSeers of the Bright Court and the Dark, the images change and waver.
A pale, thin girl sometimes wears a crown and sometimes has no head; King Edward and his Court grow misty as he changes from boy to stripling. But the fires of Mary’s reign still burn bright as they swallow writhing men, women, and children, and if she ever reigns the red-haired queen brings a burgeoning of art and joy. Elimination of that last possibility for England is Vidal Dhu’s prime purpose, but he has been forbidden by King Oberon to attack Elizabeth.
Though he may not attack her directly, still he hatches schemes within schemes. And if his plan to involve the young princess in a scandal that would render her unfit to rule in the opinion of the Proctor and his Council, he has more twisted plans to eliminate Elizabeth once and for all.
Description:
Great Harry is dead, and England is ruled by a dour Protector for 10-year-old Edward VI–-a Protector intent on keeping total control over the young king and no friend to Lady Elizabeth because of her brother’s fondness for her. In the great lens and the dark pool that hold Visions for the FarSeers of the Bright Court and the Dark, the images change and waver.
A pale, thin girl sometimes wears a crown and sometimes has no head; King Edward and his Court grow misty as he changes from boy to stripling. But the fires of Mary’s reign still burn bright as they swallow writhing men, women, and children, and if she ever reigns the red-haired queen brings a burgeoning of art and joy. Elimination of that last possibility for England is Vidal Dhu’s prime purpose, but he has been forbidden by King Oberon to attack Elizabeth.
Though he may not attack her directly, still he hatches schemes within schemes. And if his plan to involve the young princess in a scandal that would render her unfit to rule in the opinion of the Proctor and his Council, he has more twisted plans to eliminate Elizabeth once and for all.
**
From Publishers Weekly
Good and evil fairy factions continue to battle over the fate of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, in this lighthearted, historically detailed third installment in the Scepter'd Isle series (after 2005's Ill Met by Moonlight). To prevent the 14-year-old red-haired princess from ascending the throne, the Dark Sidhe, or Unseleighe, plan to destroy her benevolent Seleighe guardians, Lord Denoriel and his twin sister, Aleneil. Without them to guide her, Elizabeth might slip up, misbehave or marry—defeating the prophecy that she will one day rule England. But Denoriel and Aleneil's Dark Sidhe half-siblings, the twins Rhoslyn and Pasgen, shift their allegiances to help Denoriel and Aleniel keep Elizabeth safe and challenge the power of Vidal Dhu, prince of the Dark Sidhe. Lackey and Gellis blend the best of high fantasy with a grand dose of English history. (Feb.)
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From Booklist
The feud between Bright and Dark elves in Tudor England continues (from This Scepter'd Isle, 2004, and Ill Met by Moonlight, 2005), further affecting Henry VIII's children. Bright and Dark agree that Elizabeth, should she reign, will generate the joy and accomplishment that feed the Bright, and Titania is protecting the princess. The Dark elves, whose taste is for human anguish and sorrow, labor to prevent Elizabeth's ascension. When Henry dies, and Edward succeeds, Dark, Bright, and most of the Tudor courts are rather stymied. Lackey and Gellis follow the historical events of Somerset's protectorship quite closely and put a neat twist on Seymour's courtship of Elizabeth by enclosing it in a Dark elves' plot. Elizabeth's interrogation after Seymour's arrest and her romance with her Bright elven protector strain credulity, yet this is still a good read. Frieda Murray
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