August 7, 2006

Book of the Week: THE MIRROR PRINCE by Violette Malan

While I was traveling, in off moments I read THE MIRROR PRINCE by Violette Malan. Oddly enough, I didn’t realize she is represented by my agent until I read the dedication page. I couldn’t wait to read it after that, and I am really happy to say that I thought it was an excellent book. The basic premise is that a professor named Max Ravenhill discovers very abruptly that his whole history is a lie. He didn’t have a first love who killed herself, he didn’t grow up in our world, and he’s anything but a normal guy. He’s a banished Guardian, and his location has been discovered by his enemy, the Basilisk Prince, who’s making a concerted effort to kidnap or kill him.

The awful thing is, everyone he meets knows his whole history . . . except Max himself. That struck me as a dreadful feeling. His protector, who has loved him and watched over him for almost a thousand years, remembers their love affair which has renewed itself many times in Max’s many different manufactured lives . . . but Max doesn’t.

Of course, Max has to return to his world and try to solve its problems, learn to live by its rules, and triumph over his enemy. There are a few unclear moments along the way, though I’m more and more inclined to write those off to my own inattention. However, I can definitely recommend THE MIRROR PRINCE. The characters are wonderfully drawn, there are lots of surprises, and Malan’s world holds a potent charm.

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I spent the last seven days at the ASA fourteen-and-under fastpitch softball World Series in eastern Tennessee, under some of the hottest skies that have ever broiled me when watching my daughter play; and I’ve been broiled many times. My brain is not feeling very perky after all that heat. My daughter’s team didn’t last till the finals, but I got to see many talented and dedicated young women perform with skill and determination, and you have to feel better about the future after that. Fastpitch softball is not a sport for the easily frightened or intimidated. You have to have nerve to stand up to a ball coming at you at sixty-five miles an hour.

I’m relieved to be home and reconnecting with my daily life -- at least for a couple of weeks, before I head to World Con in Anaheim. Probably some of you, the mystery readers, know that for many years I’ve been part of a newsletter group called The Femmes Fatales. Our members have changed from time to time, but there are a few of us who’ve been in the group from the beginning, when some smart woman figured out that we could all combine to send out a newsletter that none of us could afford individually. We have a website, too, and we’ve started a blogging feature, which some of you might enjoy. Having gone a long way around to get to the point, we’re having a contest. Go to:

http://www.femmesfatalesauthors.com/contest.shtml

If you just want to subscribe to the newsletter, you can do that, too:

http://www.femmesfatalesauthors.com/mailinglist.shtml

We don’t sell addresses, or anything awful like that. I am really fond of the other women who make up Femmes Fatales, and they’re all talented. Enjoy.

This week I’ll be finishing ALL TOGETHER DEAD, which is very late. Lots of travel and family concerns have pushed me way behind on this book, but I think it’s coming together well. My editor will tell me! Thanks for all your good wishes.

--Charlaine Harris