Darkwitch Rising

April 11, 2005
The prolix third book in Australian author Douglass's Troy Game historical fantasy saga (after 2004's God's Concubine
) exhibits the same powerful imagination as its predecessors, but is not the place to start for newcomers. Brutus, legendary king of Troy, is now incarnate in 17th-century England as one of Charles II's companions, while Charles himself is the Stagking from Celtic folklore. Cornelia, Brutus's wife and a moderating influence, is now a young woman named Noah, while the sorceress Genvissa is now Kate, a prostitute and sex slave to Weyland Orr, the reborn Asterion (the original Minotaur). Asterion's sister, Ariadne, reappears as sharp-tongued as ever, revealing that the Labyrinth is now in the parallel universe of Faerie, while the Troy Game itself is incarnate, and still dangerous, in Noah's daughter, Catling. The stakes rise further when the Game sows plague in England, against which Charles has to unleash the Great Fire of London. Though enriched by the author's historical and folkloric expertise, the somewhat jumbled narrative with its many characters, their shifting alliances and frequently unsympathetic sexual encounters may weary even established fans. Agent, Jim Frenkel.

May 15, 2005
The true history of England begins with the arrival of Brutus, last of the Trojan kings, on the island of Britain. Along with the sorceress Genvissa and his virtuous wife, Cornelia, he is caught in a cycle of death and rebirth that involves the construction of a mystical Labyrinth. Now the three eternals are brought together in the 17th century, as a civil war divides England and eventually leads to the restoration of the rightful king, Charles II. Continuing her epic saga of the mystic history of Britain ("Hades' Daughter"; "Gods' Concubine"), Australian Douglass depicts historical and fictitious characters with a thoroughness that brings them to life. Her grand concepts and personal drama combine to deliver a large-scale story of love and deception that belongs in most fantasy collections.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2005
The follow-up to " Hades' Daughter" (2003) and " Gods' Concubine" (2004) finds their characters reborn in seventeenth-century England and striving to re-create the ancient Labyrinth of Knossos. The game they play has taken on a life apart from its players, which draws Faerie folk to England's defense. Brutus, the prince who refounded Troy in Britain, is now one of Charles II's courtiers, and Charles himself, the Stagking of folklore. Brutus' wife, Cornelia, one of the few peacekeepers in the maze, is now a young woman named Noah; and the ancient sorceress Genevissa is a prostitute badly used by Asterion, the Minotaur, now a London lowlife. The Labyrinth has relocated itself on the site of the Tower of London, although only in the alternate universe of Faerie. The restoration brings all the players and ancient powers of the land together, and the game brings plague to England. Crammed with well-developed detail and characters, fully exploiting Douglass' historical and folkloristic expertise, this could be more enjoyable only if the explicit and distasteful sex in it were extracted.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)