by Jan Siegel
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by Jan Siegel
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Review
'Prospero's Children is a piece of pure magic -- a charming, eccentric, and powerfully imaginative work of fantasy which will enchant readers for years to come.' Clive Barker 'A lyrical, captivating first novel of mermaids, magic, lost worlds and found souls. Once read, this book will not be forgotten' Terry Brooks
Before Fern Capel, the p.r. consultant and reluctant witch of "Prospero's Children "(2000), gets married, she must grapple with a host of uninvited supernatural guests, including an ancient demon who just won't behave. Siegel's second mix of farce and fantasy has its moments, as when Gaynor Mobberley, Fern's mousy college chum, returns with her to Fern's ancestral Yorkshire manor to help plan Fern's wedding, and there finds malignant spirits forcing her to watch television. "I'll tell you a secret," snickers the dark soul of a dead witch, "there is no television beyond the Gate of Death. . . . Live yourself a life worth watching, before it's too late." Alas, this kind of exuberant cleverness, which pits the mundane tedium of an English country wedding against a dramatically over-the-top supernatural war for Fern's soul, is difficult to sustain, especially when Siegel piles on the purple prose in telling about the blighted hell lurking just beyond Fern's everyday world, where cackling harpies cling to a mystical Tree, dead heads hanging from its branches. The best turns here are in the mundane world, where Fern's tormented adolescent brother Will, who fancies himself an artist, passes time with the house goblin, an irrepressible Scottish sprite named Bradachin, while Will develops a passionate crush on Gaynor. Will, Gaynor, and Fern all possess an eerie sensitivity to supernatural beings, especially the dreaded Azmordis, a prehistoric nasty who has possessed the body of creepy medievalist Dr. Jerrold Laye. Azmordis, through Laye, schemes to use Gaynor and Will to force Fern to use "her "witchy talents to help bring to term a fire-breathing dragon waiting to hatch from somewhere below the basement of dreary Drakemyre Hall. An uneven but winsomely wry entry in what is now a series parodying gothic excess and British high-fantasy cliches. (Kirkus Reviews)
Before Fern Capel, the p.r. consultant and reluctant witch of "Prospero's Children "(2000), gets married, she must grapple with a host of uninvited supernatural guests, including an ancient demon who just won't behave. Siegel's second mix of farce and fantasy has its moments, as when Gaynor Mobberley, Fern's mousy college chum, returns with her to Fern's ancestral Yorkshire manor to help plan Fern's wedding, and there finds malignant spirits forcing her to watch television. "I'll tell you a secret," snickers the dark soul of a dead witch, "there is no television beyond the Gate of Death. . . . Live yourself a life worth watching, before it's too late." Alas, this kind of exuberant cleverness, which pits the mundane tedium of an English country wedding against a dramatically over-the-top supernatural war for Fern's soul, is difficult to sustain, especially when Siegel piles on the purple prose in telling about the blighted hell lurking just beyond Fern's everyday world, where cackling harpies cling to a mystical Tree, dead heads hanging from its branches. The best turns here are in the mundane world, where Fern's tormented adolescent brother Will, who fancies himself an artist, passes time with the house goblin, an irrepressible Scottish sprite named Bradachin, while Will develops a passionate crush on Gaynor. Will, Gaynor, and Fern all possess an eerie sensitivity to supernatural beings, especially the dreaded Azmordis, a prehistoric nasty who has possessed the body of creepy medievalist Dr. Jerrold Laye. Azmordis, through Laye, schemes to use Gaynor and Will to force Fern to use "her "witchy talents to help bring to term a fire-breathing dragon waiting to hatch from somewhere below the basement of dreary Drakemyre Hall. An uneven but winsomely wry entry in what is now a series parodying gothic excess and British high-fantasy cliches. (Kirkus Reviews)
Product Description
English fantasy at its best, The Dragon-Charmer follows the exciting debut from Jan Siegel, Prospero's Children. Twelve years have passed since the traumatic events that took place in Prospero's Children, and it seems that Fern Capel has almost succeeded in putting aside the memory of that magical, terrifying summer, when she fought a witch, fell in love, and made a deal with a demon. More tellingly, she has denied the ancient heritage that will allow her mastery of the Gift. But the past is about to catch up with her. Fern is soon to marry the academic and media personality, Marcus Greig -- some twenty years her senior -- and he has decided that they should hold the wedding at the Capels' summer home in Yarrowdale. When Fern returns to the house with her best friend, Gaynor, ancient forces are awoken once more, and Fern will find that she is once again forced to choose between love and destiny. The Dragon-Charmer continues the lyrical, richly atmospheric and enthralling tale begun in Prospero's Children. Spellbinding in its depiction of places both familiar and strange, of characters both magical and sinister, it is classic English fantasy at its finest.
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