Written by Bobbi Sinha-Morey | 24 November 2011

2011 ROC: ISBN 978-0-451-46358-6

 Alison Sinclair, author of Legacies, Blueheart, and Cavalcade — the last-named nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award — has recently written another novel, this time a fantasy called Lightborn. It begins with Lady Telmaine, a female mage, and she is very much a lady. Think of actress Morgan Fairchild and you will see the picture. Lady Telmaine lives in a very complex world where magic is rife. The catch? She must keep her being a mage a secret or else have her name be sullied in society. Amid the strife she leads an elegant life; hoity-toity and high-class.

The tale is enlivened with intrigue, which helps carry the story along. It’s like reading a popular magazine. The author knows how to arrest the reader’s attention and keep it by use of rich detail and vigor, making the reader wish he or she could be transported to this imaginary place. It’s blustery plot with a lot of tension. With so many characters at odds with each other, the story progresses at a fast rate. Note only the author’s prose, but her insight, make it addictive.

By the halfway mark, however, the book has become boring. There’s so much banter that it slows down the story and, as result, the reader’s mind tends to wander. Political intrigue is present but even it tends to bog the story down. The word “sonn” is thrown in early on, but it lacks a definition. If there was one it was hastily swept under a rug, so each time it’s mentioned it goes over the reader’s head. Guessing the meaning can only be a stab in the dark.

Besides this, the author throws in an array of secondary characters, and only a handful of them are well-rounded. Moreover, some of the names are long and hard to pronounce. All the reader can do is glance over them. In addition, the magic itself tends to slowly diminish over time, and the writing even becomes a bit “telling”. The story also goes off in a number of directions. It’s as if the integral plot gets swallowed up by all the minor ones. We don’t hear anything about Lady Telmaine for a long time. The characters are caught up in gossip and rules of society, which they seem to regard as the spices of life. It all gets a bit silly.

However, it’s the high tension, drama, and juicy tidbits sprinkled throughout that keep us interested and make this story glow. At times the plot can even be a bit moving. We eat the tale up as if it were a nighttime soap opera. Some of the scenes are explosive, and in the second half of the book there are moments of pure fantasy. The story and its climaxes are unpredictable. We have no idea how it’s going to end.

Overall, Lightborn is fun to read, despite the sagging middle. The author writes with the momentum of a racehorse about to win. Those who like this kind of fantasy will find this one entertaining.

To learn about the author, go to her website at www.alisonsinclair.com.