cover image The Traitor's Daughter

The Traitor's Daughter

Paula Brandon. Spectra, $15 trade paper (432p) ISBN 978-0-553-58380-9

Brandon's debut, the first in a projected trilogy, is an impressively imaginative epic disguised as an unassuming romantic fantasy. Set in the Veiled Isles, a politically unstable realm steeped in a mythical and potentially cataclysmic magic, the story begins with a nobleman's sheltered daughter setting off to meet her betrothed in a distant city. When Jianna Belandor is abducted by highwaymen and taken to a rebel stronghold, suddenly she's in a very different story. Once imprisoned, Jianna realizes that her kidnapper is none other than her own estranged aunt, who wants control over the family fortune. While the revolutionary and romantic threads are engaging, it is Brandon's multilayered narrative that makes this novel such an immersive reading experience. Rich world-building, relentless pacing, and some tantalizing subplots (involving a reclusive inventor, his automaton doppelg%C3%A4nger, and amphibian "quasi-men") suggest that Brandon is an author to watch. (Oct.)