Cast in Courtlight

Cast in Courtlight (2006) Michelle Sagara

The sequel to Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight continues the story of Kaylin Neya, Ground Hawk of the Halls of Law, marked by unknown magics, and still lacking control of her magics or her temper.

This is a fine sequel to Cast in Shadow, and although there remain many loose ends, the story arc of this book is a complete one–always an important fact to consider. The story opens with Kaylin being forced into magic lessons, as her magic remains uncontrolled and wild. She hates learning magic and feels that if she becomes a mage that she will no longer remain a Hawk. Then she is thrown unwillingly and unwittingly into the Court politics of the Barrani.

As with the previous book, the story moves quickly, and I found Kaylin a sympathetic character. Although she has weaknesses (her temper, her stubbornness, and her inability to arrive at work on time for starters) she still tries to do what is right, and follow the path that she believes to be good.

The problem I had with this book is that at times I found it confusing. The story jumps about, and I sometimes had to go back and reread to understand what was happening–and even then there were some bits that still confused me. However, this was not by any means a fatal flaw in the story–I still very much enjoyed the story as well as the characters; I found myself sucked into the story, unwilling to put the book down, and unable to stop thinking about where the story was going when I did put the book down.

This may be due to the fact that I’ve read a lot of other books since I read Cast in Shadow, and so don’t remember all the details of the previous story–details that might have made things a little more clear. So I think that although you can read this book without having read Cast in Shadow, I think it will be easier going if you have read the first book.

The other thing I didn’t care for as much were the bits of the ending that were little more than teasers for another book. As I’ve said before, if I’m going to read another book by an author, I want to read that book on the the merits of past stories and the author’s writing, not because of loose ends that need wrapped up.

And as much as I tend to like Luna covers, there’s something about this cover that bothers me. Part of it is that the woman on the cover of the first book has dark brown hair–almost black–while this woman has light brown hair–almost brown. The other part is that the dress she is putting on is sleevless, while Kaylin repeatedly talks about how she always goes with her arms covered. Consider this description of a dress she puts on.

It was long, yes, and fine, and its sleeves ran the full length of her arms–or she wouldn’t have worn it.

It just bothers me when covers get important things wrong. I realize this has no bearing on the book itself, and that the author has little or no control over the cover, but I mention it because it bothers me, and because I hate bad covers.

And I have to say that I’m still not sure about the classification of this series. One of the blurbs on the cover refers to it as a “police procedural” but I’d classify it far more as action/fantasy.

If you’ve already read Cast in Shadow, then you’ll want to read Cast in Courtlight. If you haven’t, but like fantasy with strong female characters, then pick up Cast in Shadow, and then read Cast in Courtlight.
Rating: 7/10

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