Title: The Star Witch
Author: Linda Winstead Jones
Summary: Final book in the Sisters of the Sun series. The struggle for control of the Empire comes to a head, with the rebels led by the Emperor's bastard half-brother marching on the palace. Both sides are trying to negotiate with the mysterious Circle, whose warriors will ensure victory for whomever they join with. Under the guise of negotiations, the Captain of the Circle is searching the palace for the fore-ordained Star that will make him Prince of Swords, and restore the Circle to the power it once had. Meanwhile, widowed Isadora Fyne, most powerful of the Fyne witches, serves the Empress, hiding the fact of that the Empress is carrying twins, while they plot to send one of the babies to safety before the Emperor can kill it. When the Captain sees the star sapphire ring on Isadora's finger, he knows this is the Star he has been sent for, and offers the Emperor his support in return for Isadora in his bed. Having lost one love to the dreaded Fyne curse, Isadora is not about to risk her heart again. But surely she can enjoy the Captain's talented bed sport without falling in love ... can't she?
Review: Isadora has more reason to fear the Fyne curse than her sisters, since she'd dismissed the curse as a legend, fallen in love and married, only to lose her husband before his 30th birthday, as the curse stipulated. Throughout the course of the series, she has been gradually coming back to life, and this book marks her final struggle to embrace life, and all that means. The author pulled off a tricky bit of emotional reader expectation, as the reader has come to identify with the Emperor enough not to want to see him cut down by his brother, but still recognizing that the brother should be Emperor instead. That's made more compex by the Empress being the (secret) sister of one of the contender's highest warriors, adding the fear that her brother will be the one to slay her husband. With an interesting bait-and-switch, the author plants seeds of doubt regarding the Emperor's willingness to abdicate in favor of his brother. The theme of the book is clearly protection versus destruction, playing out in both Isadora's personal conflict, and the greater conflict regarding the Empire. And it is each character's irrevocable choice of one path over the other that seals his or her fate.
Thumbs: Up