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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
'Passion, politics and powerful magic in a faraway land', 22 Oct 2007
"Unveiling the Sorceress" is set in a land that feels rather like ancient Persia with slaves, empresses and concubines (as well as names and places that sound rather Persian). Elishiba is the daughter of the Emperor of Aleem, a country that has often been threatened by its neighbour Karseedia. Elishiba understands that to safeguard her country she needs to make some kind of an alliance with Karseedia and has agreed to a betrothal with the Emperor, Hanrah. The story follows Elishiba as she welcomes the delegation from Karseedia who are to prepare her in the courtly manners and behaviour of Karseedia before returning her to that country for her wedding to Hanrah.
Things aren't all as they seem, however. Hanrah is a rather ineffectual emperor with his mother, Mehmet, really in charge of the country, assisted by her evil sidekick mage Sibias. Hanrah has no desire for the wedding with Elishiba as he has another love, one who is under threat of death, and Elishiba finds that a member of the Karseedian delegation has attracted her attention. Amshazar is also known as 'the Nomad'; he arrived in Karseedia some time ago and worked his way up to advisor to Hanrah and yet he is clearly an unusual man.
As the story moves from Elishiba's palace in Aleem to the journey and finally to the palace in Karseedia we learn more about sorcery, the skills that both Amshazar and Sibias have and that Elishiba is beginning to discover in herself. There is intrigue amongst the slaves, the evil Mehmet has a trump card in which to have her way, and Hanrah's weakness seems likely to mean that he will have to submit to his mother's choices for him and his kingdom. Yet there are more powers involved in the struggle between Aleem and Karseedia than the individuals on the ground know, Amshazar's very presence there is part of a plan by the gods, and his and Elishiba's relationship may be a pivotal part of that plan.
The setting of this book was very engaging with the different lives of the Emperors and Empresses, with their servants, guards, warriors and concubines. The magical element wasn't overpowering in the book, much of the plot instead revolved around political machinations and Elishiba's own learning and understanding. Elishiba is a great heroine with pluck and sympathy and care for others as well as the ability to learn and grow and to trust when trust must be difficult. The relationship with Amshazar sometimes felt rather rushed with their connection being based on a few scorching looks rather than actually knowing each other, but this was a relatively short novel and perhaps didn't have the time to delve more deeply into their feelings.
There were perhaps some rather pantomime-level villains in Mehmet and Sibias who fulfilled all the traditional roles of evil characters without any different characteristics to make them seem more believable. However the overall story was enjoyable and the setting added considerably to that, the political elements were never boring and Elishiba and the other main characters usually very interesting. Amshazar's tendency not to speak directly but to offer Elishiba riddles was a bit annoying but she didn't seem to mind, perhaps that added to his allure and mystical nature. This is a good read in the fantasy genre with sensual overtones but a decent, solid plot underpinning it.
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