Emerald House Rising

"You mean me?" Jena straightened in her chair in astonishment. "Me, a magician?"
"Of course," Arikan replied blandly, as if the idea were the most natural thing in the world. "You have the potential, Jena. You always have." The story:
Jena is the daughter of Collas the Gemcutter, and she expects to follow in his footsteps. But one day, a stranger comes to her father's shop. He carries a ring on his finger, a ring that only she can see. And the magician Arikan tells her that she has the potential to become a magician.

When her application for journeyman status in the Guild of Gemcutters is turned down because she is a woman, she is disappointed. When the stranger returns and offers to become her teacher, she is tempted. And then she is suddenly whisked away to another place, far away from her home.

Here, she discovers a plot that concerns the Adamant Throne itself, and she is drawn into a powerplay of politics and magic.

Thoughts about the book:
There are a lot of interesting ideas here. Wizards, the way magic work, the society, and the way the noble hierarchy is built up, all new and entertaining.

Also, though slightly standard, the characters are interesting. Lady Kestrienne is a kind of person you seem to find in most fantasy books involving a keep or a large household, and the petty lords are just as petty anywhere else.

But the story is something more than characters and plot. The author has made no attempt to fill the book with surprises. This makes the book so much more enjoyable; it seems like she has taken the time to create a believeable setting, and relied on the story, the characters and the setting to carry the story.

There is nothing very original here; most of it has been done before. But it is absolutely a book worth reading, if nothing else, then because of what happens to Lord Morgan...

About the author Peg Kerr

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