THE PHANTOM'S CURSE

The age-old battle between good and evil is fought in this swashbuckling feminist fantasy in which a courageous young woman saves the world from an evil phantom.

Davis Reign, a soldier and survivor of the apocalypse, kills the phantom’s host and, with his novice sorcerer friend Cassias, rebuilds the world. When his wife dies, Reign loses his power and dark magic returns to the land. It’s up to plucky 16-year-old Marianne Fitz to quell the rising powers of evil. Torn from her parents by Reign and left alone to care for her little brother, Newt, in the poor Link district, Marianne first encounters Reign’s son, her intimidating yet seductive adversary Crawford, when she is invited to the city for a coming-of-age ceremony. Using her incipient magical powers and her pronounced street-fighting talents, Marianne rescues her brother from the jail he is thrown in by Crawford’s henchmen, saves three maidens in peril, and helps to right the balance of good and evil in the world. Her true identity is finally revealed in the dramatic denouement. Marianne’s story is told in a fast-paced, engaging first-person narrative that moves skillfully between sympathy-evoking personal experience and broad-ranging, sometimes violent action. The city of Obanac and the surrounding landscape are evocatively portrayed, adding richness and depth to an otherwise mundane plot.

A medieval-inflected fantasy that will appeal to female action-hero aficionados.