Mistwood is the debut novel from Leah Cypess (Greenwillow Books/ Harper Collins, April 2010, 304pp, ISBN 978 006 1956 997), which is already garnering favourable attention, and justifiably so.
Isabel is a Shifter, a shape-changing wraith found in the forest of Mistwood. Isabel needs to protect the Royal House of Samorna, it's a need that goes to her very core. But exactly who is the real heir to the throne? Is it Prince Rokan, who clasps a bracelet round her wrist, or is it his enemies, who for a long time hover around the periphery of the novel like smoke?
Mistwood
When Prince Rokan finds the elusive Shifter and takes her back to the castle, she has no memory of her life before, aside from little snippets that pop into her head from time to time. Rokan is desperate for Isabel's protection since she can turn her limbs to stone, take the shape of a bird, or simply change her hair colour, and since someone is trying to kill the new king before he has even been crowned.
Twenty years before, Rokan's father siezed power in a coup, but was unable to kill the old king's son and daughter. It is the fear of vengeance from the surviving family that drives Rokan to seek her aid. Almost from the moment that Isabel arrives in the closeted, hothouse atmosphere of the royal court, Rokan is under attack. Snowcats and heart-stopping spells orchestrated by an unknown assailant create an atmosphere of paranoia.
Nine Princes in Amber
Isabel is confronted by constantly shifting priorities and every time she thinks that she has understood the situation finds that it has changed again. With its focus on the complexities of succession, plotting and family loyalties, Mistwood has faint echoes of Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber, although Cypess' use of language is much more utilitarian.
One of the novel's strengths is the detailed characterization of the cast; Rokan's sister Clarisse is splendidly ambivalent, so that the reader is never quite sure whether her loyalties lie with Rokan or the plotters; Ven, the sorceror's apprentice who is ecstatic at the chance to study such a legendary creature; Kaer, the rightful heir whose legitimacy is nonetheless offset by his arrogance and sense of entitlement.
Leah Cypess
Leah Cypess sold her first short story whilst in high school; it appeared in 1995. Since then she has sold a relatively small number of short stories, although her credits include Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Helix, Odyssey and Strange Horizons. Her second novel, Nightspell will be out in May, 2011. Meanwhile Mistwood has made Kirkus Review's "Best of 2010 for teens" list.
In the last few years teens and other young readers have been served, as well as adult readers, by fine novels as diverse as Doctorow's Little Brother and Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Leah Cypess' Mistwood is a fine addition to this line.
Colin Harvey - Author six novels, and editor of four anthologies; professional reviewer since 2003, including six years at Strange Horizons. Member of ...
