Chrysanthe

Canadian literary editor Meynard’s first English-language novel since 1999’s The Book of Knights is a tangled philosophical story of a kidnapped princess returned to her throne. Teen Christine has spent years in a world much like modern Earth, where a psychologist convinces her that she was abused by her absent father. Then Quentin, a knight of the world Chrysanthe, rescues her and tells her she’s a princess. Ruled by a supernatural Law as immutable as Earth’s laws of physics, Chrysanthe is a mystery to Christine. Her life is complicated by her instilled aversion to her father, King Edisthen, and the challenge presented by Evered, her abductor, whose father was king until the Law deposed him. Meynard creates a complex cosmology that is at once many-layered and precise, but few of the characters reveal enough depth to keep readers engaged, and exciting events are buried in poetic language. Agent: Monica Pacheco, Anne McDermid Associates. (Mar.)