Brown, Simon
EMPIRE’S DAUGHTER
Book One of The Chronicles of Kydan
Simon Brown
DAW 2005
Pb 440 pgs
ISBN#
0-7564-0283-2
Macabre magic. Simon Brown likes to write about blood and mass murder--not my
favorite topics, yet I keep coming back to his work because his world-building
and descriptions are so good. [Wish I could say the same about the copyediting.]
In The Chronicles of Kydan, Brown sets up a world where the rulers of one
country control the masses by fear of a magic carried by those in power. The
Kevleren ruling class can only use their magic, however, by sacrificing a person
or pet that they love--the greater the love lost, the greater the power of the
magic (which is usually destructive) when they kill a Beloved. These are spoiled
rulers who are used to getting their way. Other countries fear them and so, of
course, oppose them.
EMPIRE’S DAUGHTER focuses on Empress Lerena, her sister Yunara, their cousin
Third Prince Maddyn Kevleren (who is unable to Weild the Sefid magic), and the
people caught around them. Lerena and Yunara are furious at Maddyn for falling
in love with and impregnating a non-Kevleren. First they exile him, but that is
only to get him far away so their dirty deeds won’t become public knowledge. But
this is just the beginning of a larger problem where power is turning and all in
Kydan are at risk.
The story bounces around between characters, a style of which I’m not too fond,
though the characterization is adequate. EMPIRE’S DAUGHTER is an interesting
study on the thin line between the extremes of love and hate. I don’t know if I
recommend it, however, because it doesn’t leave you feeling good after you’ve
turned that last page.
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