Shadowsinger: The Final Novel of The Spellsong Cycle

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Overview

The Climax of The Spellsong Cycle

Secca, foster daughter of the Soprano Sorceress, and now her successor as Sorceress Protector of Defalk, must deal carefully with her willful master and wield her power to save his kingdom from the armies, fleets and master sorcerers of the Maitre of Sturinn. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, she is forced to test her own powers over and over again, while teaching her new husband and her inexperienced apprentice the skills they will need to aid her in creating spells powerful enough to shake the foundations of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429913867
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	07/01/2010
Series:	Spellsong Cycle Series , #5
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	672
Sales rank:	59,632
File size:	729 KB

About the Author

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. lives in Cedar City, Utah.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, the Forever Hero Trilogy, and Archform: Beauty. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.

Read an Excerpt

1
.......................
Mansuus, Mansuur

Heavy wet flakes drift past the windows of the Liedfuhr’s study, each window hung with maroon velvet drawn back to reveal an early-spring snow that has already dropped more than half a yard of whiteness on the city, and on the ice that still covers the River Toksul.
The man who stands before the windows, looking out, wears a sky-blue tunic with a silver chain bearing the amulet-seal of the Liedfuhr of Mansuur around his neck and a mourning band of black and maroon upon his left arm. For a moment, his hard green eyes flick to the ice-and-snow-covered river that cuts through the city, if well below and beyond the hill on which the palace rests. Then, he turns, standing beside the polished wooden desk that has graced the study for three generations, and asks, “You think Neserea will fall before harvest?”
“As matters now proceed, it is most likely,” replies the trim overcaptain in the maroon uniform of the Mansuuran Lancers. There are but a few streaks of raven black amid the silver-gray of the lancer’s short hair. His thin eyebrows are silvered as well, but the dark eyes are deep and intent. “Despite the efforts of the Sorceress of Defalk, Aerlya and Annalyal hold but an area little more than a hundred desks around Esaria.”
“If we dispatch the fifty companies of lancers from Unduval? Then what, Bassil?” Kestrin runs his right hand through short-cropped brown hair that is already half-gray, although he will not reach his full second score of years until the turn of the following spring.
“Are you willing to risk all fifty companies? And to slaughter
all those who do not support your sister and her daughter?”
Kestrin tilts his head slightly as he studies Bassil. “If I must.”
“You must. You must also avoid facing the sorcerer Lord Belmar. He is strong enough to dispatch all your lancers with his spells.”
“Unless we can catch him in a snowstorm or the rain.” Kestrin laughs.
“You risk much if you send your lancers into Neserea,” cautions the older man.
“I risk more if I do not.”
“Your seers report that the Sea-Priests are readying a fleet to sail from the Ostisles,” reports Bassil.
“They are doubtless sailing eastward, but not to Mansuur.”
Bassil raises his eyebrows, but does not speak.
Outside the private study of the Liedfuhr, the wind moans. The snowflakes are smaller, and falling faster, and the light dims as the clouds overhead darken, as if winter is returning to Mansuus.
“This Secca—Lord Robero’s new Sorceress Protector of the East—she has destroyed all the Sturinnese vessels that had threatened Liedwahr. Do you think that the Maitre of Sturinn will decide to invade us while he has forces in Dumar that are threatened by the sorceress?”
“She remains in Encora for the moment.” Bassil pauses. “Yet it is most likely that she will travel to Dumar and use her sorcery against the Sea-Priests there before the Maitre can reinforce them. That will not be easy for her. The Maitre can use the sea to land more sorcerers and lancers, but it will be weeks, if not longer, before the snows melt enough for Lord Robero to send reinforcements to Lady Secca.”
“He will not send them even then,” predicts Kestrin. “He fears Belmar as much as the Sturinnese. Lady Secca has been successful without further aid. Lady Clayre is slowly losing in Neserea, as you have pointed out, and Aerlya and Annayal may have to flee before long.”
“Where?”
Kestrin sighs. “Perhaps to Nordwei.”
“It is yet winter there.”
“And you question that I should send lancers into Neserea?”
“I cannot see how you could do otherwise—when you can. They cannot cross the snows of the Mittpass yet.” Bassil shakes his head. “If you do not dispatch them, once the snows melt, Belmar will take all of Neserea by midsummer. But…if he is as bright as he seems, he will turn to face your lancers, in order to destroy them.”
“They must not face him. Their task is to destroy those who rebelled against Aerlya.” Kerstrin’s voice is hard. “If he turns, then the Sorceress of Defalk may be able to strengthen Aerlya’s hold on the north and east.”
“That is possible,” Bassil concedes, his voice neutral.
“Not likely, but possible,” Kestrin replies with a grim laugh. “Better that than we do nothing. The lady Secca may yet retake Dumar from the Sturinnese, but this Belmar is their tool, and even she will be hard-pressed if Neserea falls and the Sturinnese reinforcements land in Narial.”
“Because she will be caught between him and the Sturinnese?”
The Liedfuhr nods slowly. “Because we will then face the Sea-Priests alone.”
Outside the study, in the growing darkness, the moaning of the returning winter wind rises with the night.

Copyright © 2002 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
If L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s Shadowsinger were a fast-food meal, it would be supersized. If it were a T-shirt, it would be size XXL. If it were a box of detergent, it would have "NOW WITH 50% MORE!" splashed across its cover. This novel, which is the fifth and final installment of Modesitt's Spellsong Cycle (The Soprano Sorceress, The Spellsong War, Darksong Rising, and The Shadow Sorceress), is epic in every sense of the word. With 146 chapters, enough pages to cut off circulation to your lower extremities (if you're reading in bed), and more sorcery battles in one novel than I can ever remember, Modesitt has pulled out all the stops for this one.

Secca, the young, red-haired sorceress introduced in The Shadow Sorceress, is doing everything she can to stop the Sturinnese invasion led by The Maitre, a ruthless sorcerer who is master of the powerful Sea-Priests. The Sea-Priests and their dark drum magic are massing forces everywhere, and even after Secca sinks a Sea-Priest invasion fleet with her magic, they keep coming. Soon, entire villages are being destroyed by their terrible drum magic.

The Sturinnese make the perfect enemy for Secca and the female-dominated Matriarch: not only are they deceiving, overconfident and heartless, they're total chauvinists. On the Isles of Sturinn, women are treated like willful animals that must be trained. One of my favorite lines in the book came when a Sturrinese trader takes a sip of wine and says, "This is good, but it might be too delicate to travel far. Like a beautiful woman, it must be restrained and kept close to home."

But even faced with such blatantly vile attackers -- who would undoubtedly change the culture of Defalk into a male-dominated one -- some residents see Secca as the greater of two evils. Her power is just too strong, too untested. One sorceress worries, "Small as she is, well-mannered as she is, that sorceress will destroy all that is Liedwahr before the year is out. The Spell-Fire Wars will seem like nothing compared to what she will unleash in the name of protecting Defalk -- and us -- from the Sea-Priests. The oceans will turn to steam; the land will flow like water; and the handful of folk who survive will die barren."

Just like the music instructor-turned-sorceress Anna Marshal (protagonist in the first three books) before her, Secca must use her song magic to kill. And once the battle between Secca and the Sea-Priests is begun, the carnage escalates quickly. Secca even has to resort to the unthinkably destructive spells that Anna had saved in a special Armageddon envelope. Lots of people die in this book -- a surprising number of major characters -- and the magical battles are spectacular.

But this novel is so much more than epic battles. While a war is going on, Secca becomes a consort of Alcaren in body, spirit, and Harmony. Alcaren is a handsome sorcerer from a land that feared sorcery, and "a strong man in a land ruled by women." As their world is being destroyed around them, Secca and Alcaren draw strength from one another and their small band of friends. Secca's apprentice sorceress Richina saves the day on more than one occasion.

And the ending, of course, is a supersized one with some great surprises leading up to it. But that's all I'm going to say…. (Paul Goat Allen)

bn.com

In this fifth and final novel in the author's popular Spellsong Cycle, an immediate sequel to The Shadow Sorceress (2001), Modesitt has penned a competent but pedestrian political-military fantasy thriller. There are few surprises in a world with wonders and limitations so well defined in previous volumes, but new readers may become confused unless they pay careful attention. Occasional hints suggest that the magic inherent in such artifacts as the scrying glass may have a basis in ancient technology, though it's doubtful that after the collapse of a technological civilization people would forget so basic an invention as the stirrup. Newlywed Secca and her sorcerer husband, Alcaren, in an attempt to end the military threat to DeFalk of the Sturinnese, carry war to their opponents' own island turf. As much as anything the book describes a war of the sexes, with the female spellsongs vs. the male sorcerers' magical drumming. Secca seemingly learns the true extent of her powers when she manages to vanquish the Sturinnese. Doubts about her stamina and abilities continue to plague her, however, when she next finds herself pitted against the world's most powerful wizard, who commands both conventional and magical armies. Secca faces her greatest challenge yet in a hard-hitting climax sure to delight established fans of the series. (Feb. 28) FYI: Modesitt's most recent novel is the alternative history Ghost of the White Nights (Forecasts, Sept. 17). Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Newly married to Alcaren, a political ally and fellow sorcerer, Secca, Sorceress Protector of the East, faces her greatest challenge as she attempts to thwart the invasion of the Sturrinese fleet under the command of the Sea Priests. The fifth and final novel in Modesitt's popular "Spellsong Cycle" features a resilient and courageous heroine whose songs contain powerful magic and whose heart refuses to flinch from difficult decisions. The author once again demonstrates a unique ability to blend large-scale storytelling with the intimate minutiae of everyday life. Recommended, along with other series titles, for most fantasy collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Fifth and final volume of the Spellsong Cycle (The Shadow Sorceress, 2001, etc.)-a series based on wizardry emerging from music, with the Continent of Leidwahr being ruled, first by top singing-sorceress Anna, Protector of Defalk, then by her protegee Secca. Previously, Earth-born Anna died and was replaced by Secca, who now must face the ruler, the none-too-bright Robero. Robero sends her forth to test her youthful mastery of Clearsong and Darksong against rebel powers, and in doing so face insurrectionist Lord Mynntar, whose Sea-Priests use strange drumming music to whip up a murderous tidal wave that wipes out coastal areas. Secca falls for former enemy sorcerer, the handsome Alcaren, and together they sing/whip a spell that brings volcanic lava and flames to bear on the islands of the evil Sturrinese. The present volume's 75 characters are listed, since few readers will remember their often undramatized ties, not to mention those departed but referred to from earlier installments. Although Secca successfully defends Defalk, Lord Robero arises as her signal antagonist and must be dispatched if Secca is to be Lady of Defalk, marry Alcaren, bear his child, and ensure the longevity of the state. Fans will praise Modesitt for ringing down the curtain on Leidwahr.

Kirkus Reviews

It merits the highest recommendation, which will surprise Spellsong devotees not at all.” –Booklist (starred review)

“Modesitt’s characters and settings are so well developed they become enshrined in our imaginations. It will be hard to say farewell to this magical land where music and song are the medium of spells.”—Romantic Times

From the Publisher

It merits the highest recommendation, which will surprise Spellsong devotees not at all.

Booklist (starred review)

Modesitt's characters and settings are so well developed they become enshrined in our imaginations. It will be hard to say farewell to this magical land where music and song are the medium of spells.

Romantic Times