THE MISTED CLIFFS

Author: Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0373802269 7/2005 FANTASY Publisher: LUNA

One generation after war had nearly destroyed three nations, evil was returning. And only Mel Dawnfield's daring sacrifice could stop it... The promise of peace rested on this young woman's noble vow: to marry Cobalt the Dark—heir to a family of legendary cruelty. With only her uncontrolled spells to guide her, isolated in Cobalt's solitary home in the Misted Cliffs, knowing poisoned blood ran through her husband's veins, Mel struggled to embrace her unexplored mage powers and unveil the light in her shadowy new world—including the radiance hidden in her husband's soul. For her enemies were gathering strength and they would soon unleash the darkest of evils in the name of war. In the final battle, Mel's ability to harness her magic would mean the difference between a harmonious world ...and annihilation.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE MISTED CLIFFS takes place in Aronsdale, the setting for earlier books by this author and their continuation. It is the story of Cobalt the Dark and Melody Dawnfield. Cobalt is the son of Varqelle, the king who attempted and failed to take another's throne. Cobalt was 15 then, and now, 18 years later, he has succeeded in freeing the father he never knew. Now, the two of them are going to finish what was started, regain the Jaguar throne for his father and, as a result, gain an empire.

That is the plan until an emissary is sent from Aronsdale. Cobalt wants nothing more than to have his father's throne restored, but knows that in the end, the empire they rule would be no more than lands laid wasted by war. So he proposes a way for all to get what they desire...

Melody Dawnsfield is a Mage in training. She shows great promise with her spells and promises to be as strong as her parents, adding herself to the waning number of their kind. But none of her spells can prepare her or change what she must do for her people. She sees no choice but to accept marriage to the dreaded and evil Cobalt the Dark. If she refuses, war and death is unavoidable.

Who would have suspected she could possibly fall in love with the legendary Cobalt? A man whose name is used by mothers to threaten small children to behave. Now she must do what she must to save all she loves in two kingdoms that are sworn enemies.

This review was a little harder for me than most. I can't say I disliked the book, because I did like it. There were just a couple of things that bugged me, and they are things that possibly wouldn't bother most people. The main thing was the hero's age. Cobalt is 33, but I couldn't reconcile that fact with his behavior. He just seemed too immature to be that age. It wasn't much help that Melody, who was only 18, seemed to be more of an adult and much wiser. The age thing seemed to constantly nag at me as I read. But once I forced myself to disregard it and ignore any mention of his age, I found it much easier to read. Perhaps if I had read the earlier books of Aronsdale, it wouldn't have been such a factor for me. Otherwise, the first half of the book was not bad. It wasn't exactly pulling me in, but not bad. I was disappointed when I finally became truly interested in the story, only to find I had nearly finished the book. Obviously, it ended as it did to prepare us for a sequel, but I personally think it could have gone farther and still accomplished the same goal.

While I'm not raving about THE MISTED CLIFFS, I have confess I wouldn't turn down another by this author. I think that I would like very much to give her another shot.

Sue Cloud